Former Health and Promotion Administration (HPA) director-general Chiou Shu-ti (邱淑媞) on Sunday urged smokers to stop littering, after she took a picture of a Formosan blue magpie seemingly mistaking a cigarette butt for food.
The bird was looking for something to eat near a river when it appeared to mistake the cigarette butt for food, said Chiou, a bird-watcher and photographer, adding that she hopes the image would raise awareness about littering.
The picture was taken in Qianshan Park in Taipei’s Yangmingshan (陽明山) area, which is an important habitat for the Formosan blue magpie, she added.
Photo courtesy of Chiou Shu-ti
The Formosan blue magpie, also known as the “long-tailed mountain lady,” is one of Taiwan’s 14 endemic bird species, and was named Taiwan’s national bird in 2007.
Fortunately, the magpie in the picture did not swallow the butt, otherwise there could have been severe consequences, as they contain toxic elements such as arsenic and lead, Chiou said.
Every year, up to 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered globally, and they are also the biggest contributor to marine pollution, she said, citing reports, adding that in 2000, the California Coastal Cleanup Day collected 230,000 cigarette butts in one day.
Chiou said that in 2014, when she was head of the HPA, she promoted a policy to designate smoking areas in parks, but cigarette butts can still be seen in parks across Taiwan.
Although butts thrown into the water, as opposed to the ground, are less likely to be eaten by animals, the water cycle can still bring them back to humans after they travel through underground pipes and the sea, she said.
International initiatives urge smokers to take responsibility for their trash by putting butts into a pocket ashtray, she said, adding that smokers in Taiwan should also work to reduce litter.
Huang Shu-ting (黃蜀婷), the head of a Tainan-based bird photography club, said she has long encouraged bird-watchers to be “frontline observers of the ecosystem” who raise awareness about environmental issues that they see.
Many bird-watchers participate in activities to clean mountains and beaches as part of their efforts to create a better living environment for birds, she added.
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