Nearly 50,000 gray-faced buzzard eagles have passed through Kending National Park this year, the most since their numbers were first recorded 20 years ago.
Tsai Yi-jung (蔡乙榮), a senior technician who has worked in Kending National Park for 25 years, said the number of gray-faced buzzard eagles passing through the park on their migration routes has grown threefold in the past decade as environmental education and controls on illegal hunting have taken hold.
After reaching 43,515 last year and 49,600 this year, the number of birds passing through the park is likely to break 50,000 next year, Tsai said.
Gray-faced buzzard eagles, also known as the “National Day Bird,” are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which includes species for which trade must be controlled to “avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.”
The number of gray-faced buzzards stopping in Kending has grown by about 3,000 per year since 1998, said Tsai, who attributed the growth in part to the support of local police in investigating and controlling illegal hunting.
“Since the Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office began asking local police departments to supplement efforts by park police in strengthening the investigation and arrest of illegal hunters of the birds seven years ago, the situation has really changed,” Tsai said.
Four cases of illegal hunting of gray-faced buzzards have been reported so far this year, according to local police.
Tsai said that after the police began cracking down on illegal hunting of the species, the birds were now being sold for NT$1,000 to NT$1,200, more than double the NT$300 to NT$500 the birds fetched more than a decade ago.
This rare species of migratory bird may be the most famous of 200 bird species that transit through Kending National Park every year as they migrate, and because its migration period is usually around Oct. 10, Taiwan’s national day, it is nicknamed the “National Day Bird.”
Gray-faced buzzards usually rest in Kending for about 20 days from early to mid-October and can be seen flying in groups above the ocean. Kending National Park holds an annual eagle-watching event that includes various bird watching and environmental education activities.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
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
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS