Bird-watchers and wildlife photography clubs are engaging in illegal activities leading to the abuse and deaths of birds, animal rights advocates said yesterday.
“There have been many reports of abuse and cruel behavior by members of Taiwan’s wildlife photography clubs, but due to the inaction and negligence of authorities, it has worsened, spreading like a cancer to more locations and involving more flagrant offenses,” Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) director Chen Yu-min (陳玉敏) told a news conference at the legislature in Taipei.
He and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) presented evidence from a two-year investigation.
Photo: CNA
EAST, together with wildlife conservationists, conducted on-site investigations, covertly joining wildlife photography clubs and chatting on their social media sites, as well as participating in outings to businesses and farms offering bird photography tours, Chen said.
They documented evidence and took “shocking” photographs of bird abuse, she said, adding that and it was “heart-wrenching to see the cruel treatment ... even of baby birds.”
She and advocates at the news conference listed six bird farms and related businesses across the nation that they said were the worst offenders.
“We have accumulated evidence ... documenting the smuggling of non-native birds, illegal poaching, the illicit rearing of protected species, presenting caged birds for photography … [and] shots being staged by fixing birds to tree branches,” Chen said. “ There were many instances of abuse, torment and rough handling of birds.”
Lin said that authorities must penalize offenders.
“The responsible agencies from the central government down to the local level have not acted on the complaints filed,” Lin said. “Also, the sources of photographs of birds or wildlife for official tourism promotions are often not checked.”
EAST members said that the proprietors of a farm in Taoyuan removed bird’s nests from trees, picking out the baby birds and placing them on tree branches for customers to photograph.
All the baby birds had died by end of the day, they said,
Another farm in Nantou County had caught a number of indigenous owls that belonged to a protected species. Mice were released so that clubs could take pictures of the owls catching them.
Chen said she estimated that most of these businesses were making millions of New Taiwan dollars in profit each year.
Some proprietors charged NT$500 for a photographer to take pictures in a staged booth or NT$1,000 to take photos of birds mating, while others offered for NT$8,000 for unlimited photography opportunities during packaged outings.
EAST’s attorney, Chan Shun-kuei (詹順貴), said the contraventions uncovered fall under the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法), the Smuggling Penalty Act (懲治走私條例), the Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases (動物傳染病防治條例), among other laws.
“I have been a bird-watcher for more than 20 years... The abusive and cruel behavior of photographers has turned this recreation of sighting beautiful birds into an ugly scene,” Chan said. “We urge the public to boycott all these illegal businesses, and leave wild birds in their natural habitats by ending the practice of staged shots and the mishandling of birds.”
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