Bird watchers yesterday warned the indigenous Taiwan Hwamei (Leucodioptron taewanum) may face extinction if the threat of cross-breeding with the Chinese variety is not controlled soon.
“Because of the reckless abandonment of pet Chinese Hwamei’s into the wild, the wild Taiwan Hwamei population is currently being impacted greatly,” Lin Hui-shan (林惠珊) of the Chinese Wild Bird Federation told the Taipei Times yesterday.
The Hwamei is mostly brown with a scattering of black feathers on its head, back and breast, and measures about 24cm long.
PHOTO: CNA
The Taiwan Hwamei was once thought to be a sub-species of the Chinese Hwamei, but in 2006 the Council of Agriculture’s (COA) Endemic Species Research Institute, via a gene analysis, found that the Taiwanese birds are endemic to the island as they are at least 3.5 percent genetically different from their Chinese counterparts, meaning that the two have evolved independently for about 1.5 million years.
The Chinese Hwamei derives its name from its most distinctive character — a white ring around its eyes. Hwamei means “drawn eyebrows (畫眉)” in Mandarin.
Lin added that Chinese Hwamei have traditionally been imported as pets because of their pleasant vocalizations. Though the COA banned the sale of Hwameis in 2002, crossbreeds of the Taiwanese and Chinese birds are being increasingly spotted in the wild, she said.
“The Taiwan Hwamei is unique to Taiwan. If the crossbreeding continues, not only will we one day cease to see Taiwan Hwamei’s, the world may lose this species from its ecosystem,” she said.
Lin called on people who own imported birds as pets to refrain from releasing them into the wild and take measures to prevent them from escaping.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS