Taiwan plans to cull as many as 120,000 invasive green iguanas this year to curb the species’ impact on local farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture said.
Chiu Kuo-hao (邱國皓), a section chief in the ministry’s Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, on Sunday said that green iguanas have been recorded across southern Taiwan and as far north as Taichung.
Although there is no reliable data on the species’ total population in the country, it has been estimated to be about 200,000, he said.
Photo courtesy of Hsieh Chi-liang
Chiu said about 70,000 iguanas were culled last year, including about 45,000 in Pingtung County, 12,000 in Tainan, 9,900 in Chiayi, 6,500 in Kaohsiung, 5,000 in Changhua and about 100 in several other administrative regions.
This year, thanks to NT$20 million (US$608,606) in funding allocated by the government, the ministry has set a goal of culling 120,000, he said.
Based on its experience in eradicating the African sacred ibis, the ministry is relying mainly on professional hunting teams to cull the iguanas, which have established their presence in nine administrative regions.
About 300 people were recruited for the teams at hiring events held late last year in Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties, while additional events would be held in Chiayi and Pingtung counties in the coming weeks, he said.
Shortly after the Lunar New Year, the ministry is also planning to release a new agricultural damage reporting app, which would include a section where farmers can post information on iguana sightings, he added.
In addition to threatening native species, iguanas are considered to be an agricultural pest and have caused widespread damage to red bean, gourd and other vegetable crops in central and southern Taiwan.
As an incentive, the ministry is offering professional hunters a bounty of NT$500 for every iguana of at least 30cm (snout to vent) they kill and NT$200 for every one shorter than 30cm.
For the general public, the bounties for iguanas are half that amount — NT$250 and NT$100, he said.
Chiu said his confidence in the iguana eradication effort drew in part from Taiwan’s success in removing African ibises, which were largely brought under control over a five-year period.
Compared with 2019, when 18,000 of the wading birds were culled, it is now estimated that only about 50 of them remain in Taiwan, he said.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS