A conservationist in Taitung County yesterday urged motorists heading south to slow down to allow safe passage for butterflies heading north after wintering in the county.
“Motorists driving along Provincial Highway No. 9 can help give creatures other than humans a chance of life,” conservationist Lu Chin-yu (呂縉宇) said, referring to the road that runs almost the length of the east coast.
He made the appeal as the butterflies, after wintering in warmer Taitung, prepare to return to the northwest via the mountainous Dawu region. He said the butterflies normally fly inland along the mountains, where the highway is situated, to save energy on their way to Hualien.
“This is why motorists driving along Provincial Highway No. 9 have seen many butterflies flying alongside the road or crossing it recently,” he said.
With the weather turning warmer, some butterflies have begun migrating north, but he said the highway and connecting roads were “strewn with injured or dead butterflies.”
As there will be a major migration after the middle of this month, the situation may become worse, he said, adding that the section of the road between Dawu (大武) and Taimali (太麻里) is on the migration route and southbound motorists will be heading straight for them.
With the butterflies flying at speeds of between 10kph and 20kph, they “will die upon impact” when colliding with vehicles traveling at between 70kph and 80kph, he said.
Lu said his research over the years had shown that if cars were traveling at under 60kph, the butterflies still have a chance of survival because of the air currents created, but if the speed were more than 80kph, they would have “no chance at all.”
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