The Cou Hunters Association received a NT$50,000 reward for having caught Formosan black bears on camera five times over the past two years, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s Chiayi branch said on Thursday.
Tang Chih-ching (湯志卿), a Tsou hunter and member of the association, filmed the Formosan black bears using infrared automatic cameras installed around the Ishiyama (石山) catchwater channel near Alishan Highway in Chiayi County three times from May to June last year, the branch said.
He also captured a black bear on camera at the Tefuye (特富野) hunting ground in September last year, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s Chiayi branch
The two occurrences have brought him a total of NT$100,000 in rewards as “eco-wages” under the agency’s Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) program, the branch said.
Tang’s cameras again filmed an adult black bear crawling into a puddle, and getting down to play and drink water near the catchwater channel last month, it said.
He also recorded another bear walking in the woods around the region this month, the branch said, adding that both clips were filmed at night and demonstrated the natural behavior of Formosan black bears.
The five occurrences of black bears caught on cameras around the catchwater channel over the past two years are invaluable, showing that a stable population of bears lives in the region, it said.
To commend the association on its monitoring efforts, as well as encourage indigenous communities to continue to serve as forest rangers, the branch yesterday gifted NT$50,000 to the association.
The video clips and monitoring data would be further utilized for conservation research, it said.
The agency earlier this month said that black bears have been proliferating since 2018 and moving toward low-lying areas.
To incentivize residents of mountainous areas to help in the conservation of Formosan black bears and prevent human-bear conflict, the agency in 2022 set up the PES program, offering monetary rewards to people who report bear sightings.
The program rewards people who film or photograph black bears NT$50,000 each time at an interval of at least three months and up to two times within a year, the agency said.
Those who have established patrols to keep watch on habitats and promote black bear conservation would be awarded up to NT$60,000 it said.
Local residents who spot black bears breaking into their property, including farms, and report them to authorities without hurting the bears would receive NT$3,000, the agency said, adding that they can earn an extra NT$5,000 if they agree to install cameras to help monitor the bears.
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