The wild sambar population in Nantou County’s Jiufenershan (九份二山) has been restored to 4,000, after nearly two decades of intensive conservation following the 921 Earthquake, the Council of Agriculture’s Soil and Water Conservation Bureau said yesterday.
The bureau had been tight-lipped about the conservation program to avoid attracting visitors who might have disrupted the efforts, bureau Nantou Branch Director Chen Jung-chun (陳榮俊) said.
As the deer population has largely recovered, the bureau now deems it safe to reveal the program to the public for the first time as the 20th anniversary of the earthquake approaches, Chen said.
Photo provided by the Nantou branch of the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau
Tourists visiting would have disrupted reproduction during a critical time, he said, adding that the Endemic Species Research Institute and local residents estimate the deer population at about 4,000.
The 921 Earthquake, also known as the 1999 Jiji Earthquake, was a tremor of 7.3 on the Richter scale that wreaked havoc across Taiwan, resulting in 2,456 deaths and estimated property damage of NT$300 billion (US$9.71 million at the current exchange rate). The quake’s epicenter was in the county’s Jiji Township (集集).
The bureau was given the responsibility to restore 256 hectares in Nantou’s Guosing Township (國姓), later named the 921 Earthquake National Memorial Site in Jiufenershan, which was heavily damaged, he said.
The quake led to the collapse of Jiufenershan’s dip slope, triggering a 36 million cubic meter landslide that killed 41 people and 300 deer in a 180 hectare area, and forming two barrier lakes, he said.
Since then, the bureau has kept a constant watch on the condition of the slope and run a program to repopulate the area with wild deer by restoring the natural environment and releasing deer bred in captivity, he said.
Visitors are invited to observe the deer, provided that they do not harm or otherwise disturb the animals, he said, adding that herds often gather near the Slanted House (傾斜屋) on Longnan Road, the Ground Zero (震爆點) area and the barrier lake on Sezihkeng Creek (澀仔坑溪).
Two photography competitions are open for submissions until the end of July, with one focusing on the deer, and the other on natural scenery and the local community, he said.
A total of NT$180,000 in prize money is to be divided among the winning contestants, he said.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山) yesterday morning as a continental cold air mass sent temperatures below freezing on Taiwan’s tallest peak, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Snowflakes were seen on Yushan’s north peak from 6:28am to 6:38am, but they did not fully cover the ground and no accumulation was recorded, the CWA said. As of 7:42am, the lowest temperature recorded across Taiwan was minus-5.5°C at Yushan’s Fengkou observatory and minus-4.7°C at the Yushan observatory, CWA data showed. On Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County, a low of 1.3°C was recorded at 6:39pm, when ice pellets fell at Songsyue Lodge (松雪樓), a
RSS