The Taipei Zoo recently celebrated the birth of a Formosan wild boar, the first time the zoo has bred the animal, which is endemic to Taiwan, under a preservation program in cooperation with National Taiwan University to keep the purebred strain of the boar alive.
Taipei Zoo director Jason Yeh (葉傑生) announced yesterday that the male boar, born on Feb. 21, was named “Tai An” (泰安) because the breeders hoped it would grow in a healthy and safe way.
It was also hoped that Tai An would be able to reproduce in the future, Yeh said, adding that it had become increasingly unusual to spot pure-blood Formosan wild boars in Taiwan’s mountainous areas, where the animals once thrived.
PHOTO: CHIU SHAO-WEN, TAIPEI TIMES
Some hog breeders living in the mountains have let their stock run around without fencing them in, raising the chances of cross-breeding between domestic pigs and wild boars, Yeh said.
Citing research findings, Yeh said there had been a lot of hybrid wild boars spotted in the mountains in recent years whose physical characteristics, such as fur color and the shape of the ears, are seen to be different from those of purebred Formosan wild boars.
Although the wild animal is not categorized as an endangered species in Taiwan, the zoo decided to launch its effort to preserve the strain. The boars live in groups in hilly and mountainous areas around the nation, Yeh said.
The Taipei Zoo has a pair of pure-blood Formosan wild boars and Tai An is their first offspring born under the zoo’s preservation program, the zoo said.
EXPANSIONIST: China deploys an average of 40 to 50 warships and coast guard vessels daily in the South China Sea, despite pledges not to militarize the region, an official said China is attempting to expand its influence across the First Island Chain and increase pressure on Japan by sending coast guard vessels into waters off of Taiwan under the pretext of maritime negotiations with Japan and the Philippines, a national security official said yesterday. China’s recent actions in the waters east of Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are attempts to establish dominance in First Island Chain waters, said the official who declined to be named, adding that this is “expansion disguised as law enforcement.” Framing China’s actions solely as a cross-strait issue is a serious misjudgment that
Through analyzing fossil evidence, a research team at National Taiwan University (NTU) discovered the largest endemic bird to have lived in Taiwan, naming it Pavo miejue, or extinct peafowl (滅絕孔雀). The Mikado pheasant, which is printed on the back of the NT$1,000 bank note, was previously believed to be the biggest endemic bird to Taiwan. The research team’s findings suggest that Pavo miejue lived during the Pleistocene epoch tens of thousands of years ago. It is the first endemic extinct bird species discovered and formally named in Taiwan. The study was coauthored by NTU Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修),
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to suspend its automated Skytrain service connecting Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 starting on July 1 to facilitate connection works for the upcoming Terminal 3, the airport operator said today. Passengers and staff who need to travel between the two terminals after the suspension can instead use the Taoyuan MRT or the airport's 24-hour shuttle bus service, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. The Taoyuan MRT Airport Line directly links the two terminals, while the shuttle buses are to operate around the clock, the company added. The Skytrain provides free transportation between the airport’s two terminals for travelers and
Taiwan ranked 42nd in terms of peacefulness among 163 countries, down five places from last year, according to this year’s Global Peace Index. With an overall score of 1.751, Taiwan dropped from 37th last year, the report published by the global Institute for Economics and Peace showed. The overall score measures a country’s level of peacefulness using 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators across three domains — ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, and militarization. While Taiwan ranked 42nd worldwide, it was listed in ninth place among the 19 Asian-Pacific countries in the report, after New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia,
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