Green Island’s (綠島) “crab protection corridors,” designed to give land crabs a safe route across roads as they migrate to the beaches during breeding season, were criticized by conservationists for having 1m drops at their exits, which they said were dangerous to crabs.
In summer, land crabs native to Green Island travel across Huandao Road to lay eggs at the beach. Because the creatures were being killed in the hundreds by passing cars, local authorities built three pipes over the road that the crabs need to cross.
However, local conservationists said the design of the tubes — two of which feature a 1m drop on the beachside end — put the crabs in more danger than before.
Photo: Chang Tsun-wei, Taipei Times
“Are these supposed to shoot the crabs onto the beach, like cannons? Do they think land crabs can fly?” one conservationist asked.
The pipes are chiefly used to relieve overflow from local creeks, with the added functionality of helping crabs cross the road, Soil and Water Conservation Bureau Taitung Branch Director Wang Chih-hui (王志輝) said.
Green Island Township built the pipes with bureau subsidies, Wang said, adding that while the pipes are already being used for water flow management, how to use them as a bypass for land crabs is still under discussion.
It is up to the East Coast National Scenic Area Administration and conservation groups to hash out some plan, he added.
The Green Island Township Office said the pipes have been sealed until they are modified to be safe for land crabs.
The administration, which suggested the corridors be built in the first place, has been charged with devising such improvements, the township office said.
An inspection of the pipes by agencies involved in their construction is scheduled for Monday, the township added.
The administration said that at its request, National Tsing Hua University biology professor Tzeng Chyng-shyan (曾晴賢) had inspected the construction.
Tzeng had proposed to affix ropes or planks at both ends that crabs could use as a ramp, the administration said.
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