The number of rare Black-faced Spoonbills has risen, prompting an international bird association to start the process of changing their status from "critically endangered" to "endangered," a representative of the Wild Bird Federation of Taiwan said yesterday.
"The total number of Black-faced Spoonbills has reached about 800 worldwide from only 200 birds 10 years ago," said Michelle Huang, national events coordinator for the bird federation.
Huang said Birdlife International is set to announce today in Tokyo that the plight of the Black-faced Spoonbill was stabilizing, and that the marsh bird was no longer classified as "critically endangered."
Destruction of habitat and illegal poaching have lowered the numbers of the rare bird, though improvements in preservation and tighter legislation have helped restore the population, Huang said.
Around 500 Black-faced Spoon-bills come to Taiwan each year during the winter, with most of them settling in the Chiku habitat, a wetland area in Tainan County in the southwestern part of the country, she said.
While coastal areas in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vietnam are home to the rare migratory bird in the winter, its summer breeding grounds are located in the Koreas and China, though little is known about their exact locations there.
However, despite the improved outlook for the egret-like bird -- which is discerned by its white body and black spoon-shaped beak -- its favored winter destination in Taiwan is now under threat because of plans to build an industrial park nearby, Huang said.
Although the government has put plans to build the industrial complex temporarily on hold due to a lack of funds, companies such as China Steel have expressed their willingness to invest, she said.
"The Chiku habitat still needs to be made a protected zone. We will continue to fight against the industrial complex, as it would lead to severe air and water pollution," she added.
Meanwhile, the plight of another bird, the Taiwan Bulbul, also needs to be monitored because of growing habitat encroachment by the Chinese Bulbul, Huang said.
Some people are buying Chinese Bulbuls, which inhabit the western part of the country, and setting them free in eastern Taiwan as part of a Buddhist religious practice, she said.
The Taiwan Bulbul, which lives exclusively on the east coast of the country and is classified as a "vulnerable species," cannot compete with the Chinese Bulbul in terms of food and space and might disappear within 20 years, according to researchers.
CLOSURES: Several forest recreation areas have been closed as a precaution, while some ferry and flight services have been suspended or rescheduled A land warning for Tropical Storm Danas was issued last night at 8:30pm, as the storm’s outer bands began bringing heavy rain to southeastern regions, including Hualien and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 9:15pm, the storm was approximately 330km west-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, moving north-northeast at 10-20kph, the CWA reported. A sea warning had already been issued at 8:30am yesterday. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 83kph, with gusts of up to 108kph, according to the CWA. As of 9:30pm last night, Kaohsiung, Tainan,
POWERFUL DETERRENT: Precision fire and dispersed deployment of units would allow Taiwanese artillery to inflict heavy casualties in an invasion, a researcher said The nation’s military has boosted its self-defense capability with the establishment of a new company equipped with the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The company, part of the army’s 58th Artillery Command, is Taiwan’s first HIMARS unit. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who presided over the formation ceremony in Taichung on Friday, called the unit a significant addition to the nation’s defensive strength, saying it would help deter adversaries from starting a war. The unit is made up of top-performing soldiers who received training in the US, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The HIMARS can be equipped with
UNILATERAL: The move from China’s aviation authority comes despite a previous 2015 agreement that any changes to flight paths would be done by consensus The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday slammed Beijing for arbitrarily opening the M503 flight route’s W121 connecting path, saying that such unilateral conduct disrespected the consensus between both sides and could destabilize the Taiwan Strait and the wider region. The condemnation came after the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) earlier yesterday announced it “has activated the W121 connecting path of the M503 flight route,” meaning that west-to-east flights are now permitted along the path. The newly activated west-to-east route is intended to “alleviate the pressure caused by the increase of flights,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office
STRONG WINDS: Without the Central Mountain Range as a shield, people should be ready for high-speed winds, CWA weather forecaster Liu Yu-chi said Danas was yesterday upgraded to a typhoon and could grow stronger as it moves closely along the nation’s west coastline, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Hsinchu and Chiayi cities, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Nantou, Chiayi, Penghu and Pingtung counties have canceled work and school today. Work and school in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Yilan, Taitung, Hualien, Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties would continue as usual, although offices and schools would be closed in Taoyuan’s Luju (蘆竹), Dayuan (大園), Guangyin (觀音) and Sinwu (新屋) districts. As of 5pm yesterday, the typhoon’s
RSS