A suspect in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) was detained on Saturday for alleged involvement in the illegal hunting of gray-faced buzzards, migratory birds that flock to the nation annually during this time of the year.
The suspect, surnamed Pan (潘), was found to have nine of the birds, eight of which were dead, while the ninth died after vets were unable to save it from its injuries, police said.
Pan is accused of hunting the birds using an air gun equipped with an infrared scope, police said, adding that he is being charged with violating the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法) and the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例).
Every year gray-faced buzzards migrate to Taiwan from Siberia and the Korean Peninsula after traveling through Japan and eastern China and arrive in Hengchun and Manjhou (滿洲) townships around the time of Double Ten National Day.
The Kenting National Park administration each year declares the start of birdwatching season during which the buzzards can be seen in great numbers.
Manjhou Harbor (滿州港口) authorities recorded about 10,000 buzzards flying southerly in skies above the harbor on Wednesday last week.
Authorities said the birds tend to perch near human settlements and are not afraid of people, which draws the attention of poachers.
Police said they set up a stakeout outside of 55-year-old Pan’s residence in Manjhou County’s Lideshan District (里德山), after receiving an anonymous tip that Pan was hunting the birds.
Police arrested him when they allegedly witnessed Pan firing at the birds using a scope-equipped air gun at about 1:40am.
Veterinarian Chien Hsing-hua (錢興華) said that birds are often unable to fly again after their wings are injured, adding that the birds become aggressive once they are wounded.
After birds are shot down poachers usually throw them to the ground repeatedly until they are bleeding and show no movement, Chien said.
“It is a merciless technique,” Chien said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard