Formosan black bear expert Huang Mei-hsiu (黃美秀) has lauded the restraint of bee farmers in Pingtung County after a bear was found taking honey from a beehive.
A video released by the Taiwan Black Bear Education Center on Wednesday last week showed a Formosan black bear taking honey from a beehive in October last year.
The farmers, who raise their bees in the mountains at 400m above sea level, said that their beehives were damaged two days in a row and that they called the center because they suspected that bears were responsible.
Huang said that she and her team went to the farms and suggested that farmers remove the hive bodies, where the bees live, and leave the outer covers with some honey in them.
“We thought that the bear would return for a third day,” Huang said, adding that the team set up three cameras and captured footage of the bear eating from the covers.
Bears venturing close to villages is dangerous for them, as the people might kill them out of fear or for other reasons, Huang said, adding that it makes it more difficult to protect the endangered species.
The Formosan black bear population has remained low for many years, Huang said, adding that they usually avoid humans.
Formosan black bears rarely harm property or people, Huang added.
“If we can predict where the bears might show up and remove food sources, it would be possible to keep them away from places they should not be,” Huang said.
“Accurate knowledge about Formosan black bears and people’s willingness to accept them are intrinsic to their fate,” she said.
This particular bear was lucky to have met kindhearted bee farmers who were amenable to opinions from experts, prompting the bears to leave the area, Huang said.
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