The Taiwan Black Bear Conservation Association on Monday opened the nation’s first Formosan black bear education center in Hualien County’s Yuli Township (玉里).
The nearby Dafen (大分) area in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) is nicknamed “bear country” for having the highest population density of the animals in the nation and holds a special significance for National Pingtung University of Science and Technology professor Hwang Mei-hsiu (黃美秀) — known locally as “Mama Black Bear” — as it is where she trapped and banded more than 15 bears during her thesis research.
Hwang, who founded the association, said she chose the area as it is one of the nation’s most remote sites, adding that she often used to stop in Yuli for supplies before taking the Batongguan Historic Trail (八通關古道) into Dafen.
Photo: Hua Meng-ching, Taipei Times
Just walking into the mountains can take three days, with a full trip sometimes lasting more than two weeks, she said, joking that she returns to the area more often than to her parents’ home.
Formosan black bears are active in mountains surprisingly close to the low-lying education center, Hwang said, adding that satellite collar data show bears foraging as close as 3km to Yuli.
The center is intended to serve as the beginning of long-term conservation efforts to promote development of the area as the gateway to “bear country,” she said, adding that the center promotes black bear-friendly products, communities and villages.
Photo: Hua Meng-ching, Taipei Times
“Black bear conservation efforts have not succeeded yet,” she said. “If they had, why was a bear found with its paws chopped off just last year at the bottom of the Lakulaku River (拉庫拉庫溪)?”
Bear paws are regarded as a delicacy, while other body parts are highly prized in traditional Chinese medicine, making them valuable to poachers.
The people capable of protecting bears are local residents, not people in Taipei or Kaohsiung, Hwang said, adding that only by strengthening the relationship between people and nature can conservation efforts succeed.
The association’s conservation plans include going to six different schools in the area this year, as well as establishing a citizen scientist program that uses automated cameras to detect wildlife.
Many local officials joined association president Chang Fu-mei (張富美) and director Arthur Mai (麥覺明) at the center’s opening ceremony, which attracted crowds of visitors and was marked by performances of traditional Bunun folk songs and a tour of the facilities.
Center exhibits include a complete stuffed Formosan black bear, along with a complete bear skeleton and bear dung, hair and footprints. An automatic ultraviolet camera is also on display along with steel clamps and snares used to trap the animals.
In response to questions from visitors, center curator Kuo Yan-jen (郭彥仁) said that male bears are larger because they fight over mating rights.
Bears weighing more than 100kg are usually male, while females typically weigh 70kg to 80kg, he said.
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