Wildlife conservationists and local activists are organizing a wedding for a pangolin couple, which would be accompanied by celebration events tomorrow, to highlight cooperation between two leading pangolin habitats in rural areas of Tainan and Kaohsiung.
Matoushan Nature and Humanity Association director Huang Hui-min (黃惠敏) said Taiwan is touted as a successful example of saving the scaly anteater from near extinction due to rampant poaching, after including it as a protected species when Taiwan promulgated the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法) in 1989.
The pangolin wedding is to take place tomorrow, starting at 2pm, at the Matoushan Natural Base Site (馬頭山自然基地) at 26.3km on Provincial Highway No. 27, Huang said on Wednesday.
Photo: Su Fu-nan, Taipei Times
The male pangolin named “A-Ga” (阿甲) is from Kaohsiung’s Matoushan Scenic Area (馬頭山風景區) and the female “Tsio-Gi” (小琦) is from Tainan’s Longchi Niupu Mudstone Geopark (龍崎牛埔地質公園), Huang said.
The main attractions of the Sunday event are a “pangolin bridal chamber” made of bamboo — at more than 10m in length — for an educational exhibition, a documentary film and a fashion show for people to learn more about the animal, Huang said.
There would also be food stalls, and visitors can try out dishes made with ants, termites that are a part of pangolins’ main diet, Huang said.
The event is organized to highlight an alliance for wildlife conservation and environmental protection between Matoushan Nature and Humanity Association, and workers at the Longchi Niupu Mudstone Geopark, she said.
Matoushan Nature and Humanity Association had for a long time had a partnership with National Pingtung University of Science and Technology Institute of Wildlife Conservation researcher Sun Ching-min (孫敬閔), a leading advocate for protecting the pangolin, Huang said.
Taiwan’s success story in transforming into a haven for pangolins in recent decades attracted a lot of international media attention, who have come to Taiwan for special reports and shooting documentary films on the conservation work, Huang said, adding that a BBC crew had visited Taiwan, and named the recently completed pangolin bridal chamber made of bamboo “Ati.”
Ati received publicity in other countries through social media posts, Huang added.
The Pangolin is the world’s only mammal covered in hard keratin scales. As some people unscientifically attribute mysterious qualities to its skin, the pangolin is among the most trafficked and endangered species globally.
Taiwan has made very good progress, as most people are aware of the animal’s protected status, and they report sightings on roads and near human settlements, Huang said.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS