An endemic subspecies of Australasian grass owls (Tyto longimembris pithecops) is feared be on the verge of extinction in Taiwan, because there may be only about 100 left in the wild, specialists and local birdwatchers’ associations said yesterday.
Panelists expressed their concern at a forum hosted by the Council of Agriculture (COA) Forestry Bureau that centered on grass owl conservation.
The owl has been nicknamed the “monkey-faced owl” by local hunters and elderly residents because its face is thought to resemble that of Formosan rock monkeys.
Yao Cheng-te (姚正得), director of the Medium Altitude Experimental Station under the council’s Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute (TESRI), said the bird of prey is about 38cm to 42cm in length, inhabits low-altitude (below 500m) dense grasslands in the south-west of the country and hunts for rodents at night.
Noting that the owl is listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES, also known as the Washington Convention), and is a first-level endangered species in the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法), Yao said there have been less than 50 recorded sightings of the owl in the past 30 years.
He said that in the past decade, the center has received 12 injured Australasian grass owls from southern Taiwan, eight of which were hurt when they became entangled in netting at airports.
Both Yao and Kaohsiung Wild Bird Society chairperson Lin Shih-chung (林世忠) said the reduction in size and fragmentation of their habitats was because of urban development, the elimination of rodents by poisoning, improper use of -pesticides and netting at airport, and that such problems had threatened the survival of the owls in recent years.
Veterinarian Chan Fang-tse (詹芳澤) said that the breeding of injured owls after they have recovered has been successful and that the institute has been able to learn a lot about the behavior of the bird.
However, Forestry Bureau’s Wildlife Conservation Section chief Lin Kuo-chang (林國彰) added that successful breeding was not the same as restoration and rehabilitation of the wild owl population and that more understanding of the species in the wild was needed so that better conservation plans could be mapped out.
At a specialists’ meeting held following the forum to discuss possible action plans, Liu suggested that a number of factors needed to be observed and recorded to gain more knowledge about the Australasian grass owl’s behavior, current population and the state of its habitat.
“Only when we can clarify the condition of the species can we work out an effective action plan to protect the owls,” he said.
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
DEMAND: The government should enact regulations in line with Austria and Germany to incorporate vegan nutrition into school meals, an advocate said More than 1,000 people yesterday marched in Taipei to promote veganism, calling for legislation to incorporate vegan diets into school lunches and the national net zero emissions program. Participants gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building for the march, which was organized by the Vegan Action Network (VAN). Former ambassador to Chad Chiu Chung-jen (邱仲仁), actor Yankee Yang (楊子儀) and actress Cindy Lien (連俞涵) attended the event. VAN member Marianne Chao (趙梅君) said that the campaign aimed to urge the government to promote vegan diets across schools and government agencies via legislation and national policies, which would help build
RSS