The Formosan clouded leopard, a subspecies endemic to Taiwan, has become extinct, according to a team of local and US zoologists that had been trying for 13 years to find the animal.
“There is little chance that the clouded leopard still exists in Taiwan. There may be a few of them, but we do not think they exist in any significant numbers,” zoologist Chiang Po-jen (姜博仁) said.
Chiang and Pei Jai-chyi (裴家騏), a professor at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology and a leading figure in the nation’s wildlife conservation movement, invited the team of zoologists in 2001 to search for the tree-dwelling cat in primary forests in Dawushan (大武山), Yushan (玉山) and Taroko National Park.
While searching for the leopard, which typically weighs between 10kg and 20kg, the researchers set up about 1,500 infrared cameras and scent traps in the mountains.
However, no evidence was found to suggest that the leopard still exists, Chiang said.
Pei said the team concluded that the leopard became extinct as a result of poaching and the destruction of its habitat due to development projects.
The results were “disappointing,” said zoologist Liu Jian-nan (劉建男), who is a post-doctoral fellow at the Biodiversity Research Center of Academia Sinica.
He said the search was driven by a belief that the leopard still existed and that the team would discover one in the wild.
Now the only Formosan clouded leopard left in Taiwan is the stuffed specimen at the National Taiwan Museum, Liu said.
The two clouded leopards at Taipei Zoo are imported species from Southeast Asia, he added. The research findings have been submitted to Oryx, an international conservation journal, and are expected to be published in the next six months, Liu said.
Kuan Li-hao (管立豪), a division chief at the Forestry Bureau, said that after the report is published, the Council of Agriculture’s Wildlife Conservation Advisory Committee would seek to verify the information and would decide whether the Formosan clouded leopard should be taken off the government’s list of protected animals.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard