The Lienchiang County Government yesterday launched an attempt to save a group of Chinese Crested Terns — a critically endangered species — found roosting on one of the islets in the Matsu Islands.
Ko Mu-shun (柯木順), director of the Construction Bureau under the county government, which has jurisdiction over the Matsu Islands, said the decision was reached after consultation with the Council of Agriculture.
The team, consisting of bird experts and county government officials, landed on an islet where an international bird-watching group sighted a small colony of Chinese Crested Terns last week. The team will examine the situation and decide whether to ask the Wild Bird Society of Taipei to send experts for a rescue mission, Ko said.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ASSOCIATION OF SUSTAINABLE ECOLOGICAL ENGI
Last week, Simon Liao (廖世卿), vice president of the Taiwan International Birding Association, and 10 other executives of bird-watching associations from the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and the Netherlands, saw 16 Chinese Crested Terns — the largest number of the rare birds ever recorded.
They said one of the birds had a section of plastic pipe around the bottom of its beak, and that if the object was not removed, the bird could die of starvation within a few days.
Pictures of the bird were carried in local media on Monday.
The Chinese Crested Tern, also known as Thalasseus bernsteini, is one of the world’s rarest birds, with the entire population reported to be fewer than 50 birds.
For most of the 20th century, the species was thought to be extinct, with confirmed sightings in the wild ceasing in 1937.
However, in 2000 a filmmaker discovered a small number of the birds in the Matsu Islands, with the number growing steadily in the past years.
During the latest sighting, bird-watchers said they saw three young birds at the colony, which they saw as evidence that the rare birds are breeding in the Matsu Islands.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS