Members of several wildlife conservation groups went on a field trip to a salt marsh in Putai (布袋), Chiayi City, yesterday to witness Asian horseshoe crabs, known as one of the few "living fossil" species in Taiwan, which have been sighted recently on the coast near Chiayi City.
They will join researchers from the Research Center for Biodiversity, Academia Sinica (RCBAS) and Chiayi officials to see the erection of a netted area to allow the adult crabs to spawn and the babies to be nurtured, making the area an exclusive breeding zone for the crabs.
Five adult and 32 young Asian horseshoe crabs, tachypleus tridentatus, whose appearance on Earth can be dated back to 200 million years ago, have been sighted on the coast of Putai, making it the third place in the country to witness the appearance of the crabs after sightings were reported on the outlying island of Kinmen and in the Penghu (澎湖) archipelago, Chiayi County officials said on Friday.
The protection of the Asian horseshoe crabs is being promoted as one of the activities to attract tourists to Chiayi County, officials said.
Last year 70,000 baby Asian horseshoe crabs bred in captivity were released into the wild off the coast of Kinmen as part of efforts to conserve the "living fossil" species.
With its distinctive domed carapace shaped like a horseshoe and a stiff pointed tail, the Asian horseshoe crab was almost extinct in the waters surrounding Taiwan as a result of development and environmental changes. It started to be sighted again near Penghu a couple of years ago.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,
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