A section of highway in the Kenting (墾丁) area of Pingtung County is to be periodically closed over the next few months to allow safe passage for female land crabs as they migrate from inland areas to the coast to spawn, officials said on Tuesday.
Kenting’s Banana Bay (香蕉灣) is an important habitat and spawning ground for land crabs, but since the construction of Highway No. 26, land crabs have had to cross the road to lay their eggs and are often killed by passing vehicles.
To help crabs cross the road, the Kenting National Park Administration has tried various measures over the years, including periodically closing highway lanes.
However, the measures have had less-than-satisfying results, with the mortality rate of migrating crabs exceeding 30 percent last year, up from a 20 percent average in previous years.
An entire section of the highway would be closed for two hours for the first time to better protect the crabs, the park administration and the Directorate-General of Highways said.
From Aug. 6 to Aug. 8 and Sept. 5 to Sept. 7, all vehicles — except emergency vehicles and local residents’ scooters — are to be banned from between the 39.5km and the 41.5km highway markers, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, the park said.
The section is to be closed for two minutes every 10 minutes during the two periods, the park said.
As in previous years, the outside lanes are to be closed between 6:30pm and 8:30pm, from Saturday until Monday, and from Oct. 4 to Oct. 6.
Surveys in 2009 and 2010 recorded more than 40 species of land crab in the park, the park’s Web site said.
Kenting’s Shiangchiaowan coastal forest is home to at least 26 species of land crab, making it the most diverse known habitat in the world for the crabs, while the Gangkou River (港口溪) estuary between Sihzikou, Choufongbi and Houwan in the park, are also crab habitats.
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