The New Taipei City Government has canceled a proposed photography contest focused on a rare Siberian white crane that migrated to a wetland in the city late last year amid criticism the contest could threaten the bird’s habitat with the influx of competitors and tourists.
The contest was promoted on the city’s Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office Web site to raise awareness of bird conservation and the rarity of the white crane — an endangered species — but the office canceled the contest due to conservation concerns, office director Chen Yuan-chuan (陳淵泉) said.
The office has deployed a security guard to maintain order at the site, cordoned off the rice paddies where the bird dwells and set up warning signs to caution the public against getting too close to the bird, Chen said.
Photo: Yu Chao-fu, Taipei Times
Taiwan Ecological Engineering Development Foundation deputy executive Chiu Ming-yuan (邱銘源), who established a conservation team to protect the white crane and document its daily activities and growth, said humans are the most dangerous threat to the crane.
The white crane has survived several human intrusions, including a television crew that was shooting a gunfight scene using camera-equipped drones, photographers breaking into the paddies to capture the bird and tourists teasing the crane with a slipper, Chiu said.
He said that although the office might have launched the contest out of goodwill, but it had misunderstood its duty to protect the bird, while encouraging more tourists at a time when the on-site guard and environmentalists were already overwhelmed with misbehaving visitors.
Saying that the office had claimed that it could not afford to keep a guard at the scene any longer than next month, Chiu asked how the office had the money to hold the contest.
A birdwatcher surnamed Lai (賴) said any such activity that did not contribute to ecological education is a waste of money and could lead to misconceptions about conservation.
Chen said that it only costs NT$30,000 to hold the contest, which is defined as an administrative expense, while hiring a security guard is a personnel expense.
However, the office has managed to hire a security guard until Sept. 15, Chen said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to