Spring and summertime in Taiwan is gestation time for many different species of bats. Bats like to choose secluded areas with access to plenty of food in which to perch during gestation. Taipei Zoo is home to many Japanese house bats — a common sight in big cities — but signs of the much rarer Formosan woolly horseshoe bat can also be found in many places within the zoo. Researchers at the zoo were recently fortunate enough to observe first-hand an infant Formosan woolly horseshoe bat’s development as it went through the process of learning to look after itself independently.
According to the zoo, using an identification ring on its wing, researchers discovered that a particular Formosan woolly horseshoe returns to the same cave within a display area of the zoo every year during springtime to gestate. Mother bats hold their newborn pup in front of their chest and wrap both their wings around it to protect it. They will occasionally allow their pup to hold on by itself and have a go at spreading its wings. During the growth phase, an infant bat will stay close to its mother’s side to learn how to forage for food and pick up general life skills. This continues until the bat is able to look after itself independently; only then will the mother leave the cave.
The zoo said that on one occasion researchers observed that when the mother bat they were monitoring returned to the cave and tried to hug her two-month-old infant, the baby bat began to respond vigorously and emit social interaction sounds, showing that it was beginning to reject its mother and was preparing for independence. The researchers were surprised and delighted to be afforded the rare opportunity to record the interaction between a mother bat and her infant, and the discovery has provided important new observations about the Formosan woolly horseshoe bat.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Zoo 照片:台北市立動物園提供
Taipei Zoo says that it is currently the mating season for bats, so if you look up at the nighttime skies above cities, you will likely catch a glimpse of bat silhouettes soaring through the sky. If a member of the public comes across a lone infant bat and is unsure what to do, the zoo recommends returning to the spot where one found it at dusk and placing it on a wall on top of a paper towel or a piece of cloth. After a few hours, its mother will return to pick it up and take it home.
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
春夏之際是台灣許多種類蝙蝠的育幼期,會選擇食物充足、棲息環境隱密的地方進行育幼。在台北市立動物園有許多都市常見的東亞家蝠,連全台灣紀錄甚少的「台灣大蹄鼻蝠」,在園內多處都可以發現蹤跡,研究人員更幸運紀錄到「台灣大蹄鼻蝠」寶寶學習獨立的行為。
Photo courtesy of Taipei Zoo 照片:台北市立動物園提供
園方指出,研究人員根據翼環辨識,發現有一隻「台灣大蹄鼻蝠」固定在每年春天,會回來動物園展區內的洞穴裡育幼。蝙蝠媽媽育幼時會把蝙蝠寶寶抱在胸前、用雙翼護著牠,偶爾讓蝙蝠寶寶抓著自己嘗試展翼,蝙蝠寶寶成長過程中,會待在媽媽身邊學習覓食和生活技能,直到蝙蝠寶寶獨立後,蝙蝠媽媽才會離開洞穴。
園方透露,有次研究人員觀察到「台灣大蹄鼻蝠」媽媽回洞穴要抱兩個月齡的寶寶時,寶寶反應激烈發出社交叫聲,顯示蝙蝠寶寶出現排斥蝙蝠媽媽的行為,準備開始獨立,意外紀錄到如此難得親子互動行為,讓研究人員興奮不已,幫「台灣大蹄鼻蝠」育幼行為添上一筆重要紀錄。
目前正值蝙蝠的繁殖季,園方表示,都市天空每晚都有蝙蝠們的身影,偶爾民眾撿到蝙蝠寶寶會不知如何處理,其實只要在傍晚時分將蝙蝠寶寶帶回原地野放,先在牆壁貼紙巾或布,再將蝙蝠寶寶放在上面,幾個小時後,蝙蝠媽媽就會將牠帶回去。
(自由時報記者蔡亞樺)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
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