The Forestry Bureau’s Hualien Forest District Office on Friday awarded Hualien resident Manama (蘇明生) a cash reward of NT$8,000 and a commendation plaque for reporting the sighting of a Formosan black bear.
Manama, a member of the Bunun indigenous people, received the reward for reporting the sighting to the office without harming the animal.
Anyone who reports sighting a Formosan black bear without harming it receives a reward of NT$3,000, said Lo Yu-chuan (羅尤娟), head of the bureau’s conservation department.
Photo: CNA
Manama was given an additional NT$5,000 for allowing the government to set up cameras around his property in Jhuosi Township (卓溪) to monitor the activities of the bear, Lo said.
Manama received the award as part of a bureau program to promote awareness and conservation of endangered animals and their habitats.
The Formosan black bear was added to the program in October last year, with rewards covering 60 townships in 13 counties.
Manama’s report marked the first time the program has issued a reward for a black bear, Lo said.
Speaking with reporters on Friday, Manama said he first became aware there was a bear on his property when his son on Dec. 21 told him that the family’s chicken coop had been ransacked.
After checking the coop the following day, he became certain it was the work of a bear, with one hen missing and feed eaten, Manama said.
Manama notified the Hualien Forest District Office, which subsequently found black bear fur and excrement.
The office got permission from the landowner to set up three cameras around his property, which captured footage of the bear on the nights of Friday and Saturday last week.
The office said the footage indicated the bear had been helping itself to Manama’s supplies, suggesting it had been in the area for a while.
Following confirmation of the bear’s existence, the office instructed people in Manama’s village to remove their chicken coops to discourage the bear’s nighttime activities.
The bear has not been sighted since Sunday last week, the office said, adding that surveillance would continue for three months to make sure it does not return.
Manama explained that he informed the bureau of the bear sighting instead of harming it because the Bunun people have a long-held respect for the animal.
Manama said it was the first time he has seen a Formosan black bear in the 50 years he has lived in the village, and he had no desire to hurt the animal regardless of the damage it caused to his property.
Netflix on Wednesday said it is to charge NT$100 more per month for each user that is not part of the same household. Under the plan, the streaming service is to limit viewership to people who live in the same household. If a member wishes to add people outside of their address, they must pay NT$100 more per person every month. No additional viewers can be added to the NT$270 per month “basic” account. “Standard” accounts (NT$330) can add one user, while “premium” (NT$390) accounts can add two users. The company has said that people in the same household would still be able
A Keelung high school on Saturday night apologized for using a picture containing a Chinese flag on the cover of the senior yearbook, adding that it has recalled the books and pledged to provide students new ones before graduation on Thursday. Of 309 Affiliated Keelung Maritime Senior High School of National Taiwan Ocean University graduates, 248 had purchased the yearbook. Some students said that the printer committed an outrageous error in including the picture, while others said that nobody would notice such a small flag on the cover. Other students said that they cared more about the photographs of classmates and what was
PRESSURE POINT: Beijing might seek to lean on Musk to prevent his SpaceX from providing Taiwan access to its Starlink satellite system, ‘The Economist’ said Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) called out Elon Musk on Twitter, saying the value of democracy transcends that of money after the Tesla CEO said that China was likely to “integrate” Taiwan. Asked in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday last week if “China would make a move to take control of Taiwan,” Musk said that “the official policy of China is that Taiwan should be integrated... One does not need to read between the lines.” “There is a certain inevitability to the situation,” he added. “That is their policy, and I think you should take their word seriously,” Musk said. Regarding
WAY OF THE RUKAI: ‘Values deemed worthy often exist amid discomfort, so when people go against the flow, nature becomes entwined with our lives,’ a student said “Run, don’t walk” after your dreams, Nvidia cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) told National Taiwan University (NTU) graduates yesterday, as several major universities held in-person graduation ceremonies for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. “What will you create? Whatever it is, run after it. Run, don’t walk. Remember, either you’re running for food, or you are running from becoming food. Oftentimes, you can’t tell which. Either way, run,” he said. Huang was one of several tech executives addressing graduating students at Taiwanese universities. National Chengchi University held two ceremonies, with alumnus Patrick Pan (潘先國), who is head of Taiwan