A total of 2,272 black-faced spoonbills are wintering in Chiayi County, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung — the highest number in history, Taijiang National Park (台江國家公園) officials said yesterday.
Park officials said it was the first time that Tainan-based bird watchers had counted more than 2,000 of the endangered birds in the nation.
More than 600 of the black-faced spoonbills were spotted in Tainan’s Annan District (安南), while others were observed in the Cigu Black-Faced Spoonbill Conservation Zone (七股黑琵保護區) and the Sihcao Wetland Wildlife Refuge (四草野生動物保護區) in Greater Tainan. Still more of the birds were seen in the wetlands of Budai Township (布袋), the Aogu Wetlands (鰲鼓溼地) and the mouth of the Pachang Creek (八掌溪) — all in Chiayi County — as well as in Kaohsiung’s Cieding (茄萣) and Yongan (永安) districts.
Not all of the black-faced spoonbills counted are expected to stay in the south of the country, as some might fly further south to the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam and Indonesia, park officials said.
The park attributed this year’s spoonbill surge to conservation efforts, particularly those carried out in the bird’s breeding grounds along the border between South Korea and North Korea, as well as in wintering areas in Taiwan.
With the Taiwan count exceeding 2,000, some birdwatchers now expect the worldwide count to break 3,000 next month, when the annual global census of the bird’s population is taken.
Taijiang National Park, on Tainan’s southwestern coast, boasts a wide range of wetland environments, including estuary sandbars, and abandoned salt farms and fish farms, making it a major base for migratory birds.
Meanwhile, a survey on wild animals on the northern coast between Tamsui (淡水) and Jinshan (金山) districts in New Taipei City has found that since farming activities in the villages skirting Yangmingshan National Park has declined and human consumption of wild animals decreased, a lot of idle farmland has seen second-growth forestry that has brought about the reappearance of rare wild animals.
The Council of Agriculture’s Forestry Research Institute said the survey found there are many wild animals in the second-growth forests and that the diversity is almost the same as that in the forest in the national park, which has long been under strict protection.
The survey recorded ferret badgers, masked palm civets, civet cats, pangolins, Formosan rock monkeys, Reeves’ muntjac and boars.
It also found that the appearance rates of several animals in the second-growth forests are higher than those of the natural forest just 2km away, with double the number of masked palm civets and five times as many ferret badgers reported. Civet cats have even been seen on the outskirts of mountain villages.
The institute linked the reappearance of wildlife to diminished farming and fewer people eating the local fauna. It said that more than 20 years ago, there was a lot of farming in the villages near the park and that many residents regarded wild animals as either pests or food.
However, over the past decade, much of the farmland has been left fallow, making the area a paradise for wildlife again.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost