The Tainan City Government should establish patrols devoted to the conservation of eastern grass owls, documentary filmmaker Wan Chun-ming (萬俊明) said on Wednesday.
Tyto longimembris are a category 1 protected species in Taiwan, he said, adding that the owls rest and nest in swathes of cogongrass.
Since he began observing the birds in 2017, Wan said, he found three nests in one of his regular observation areas, adding that the a female owl usually lays five eggs annually.
Photo: CNA
However, this year the number of eggs has declined to four per nest, and the birds have also delayed laying their eggs by at least a month, he said.
Wan said he believes that Tainan’s owl population is threatened by habitat loss, as cogongrass fields are increasingly replaced by other grass species.
Fires, increasingly occurring in winter, have also threatened the owls and their eggs, while rat poison, bird nets and hunting traps are also affecting their numbers, he said.
Wan suggested that the city government and the Tainan branch of the Forestry Bureau establish patrols to find and report threats to the owls.
The public is unfamiliar with owl habitats, and the patrols could help promote information on the protected species at schools and in communities, which would go a long way to conserving them, Wan said.
Tainan Agriculture Bureau official Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) said that a conservation subsidy program would start later this year, which would protect the owls, as well as the pheasant-tailed jacana.
The bureau would give NT$20,000 to farmers who pledge not to use herbicides or set up bird nets, he said, adding that it plans to increase measures to protect conserved species’ habitats and remove invasive species.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
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