The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear.
Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said.
Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said.
Photo courtesy OF the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency
The bear was chewing on another honeycomb stolen from the hives and turned to look at him, it said, adding that they quietly gazed at each other for nearly 40 minutes until the bear turned around to eat more honey and then fell asleep.
Chih reported the incident to the agency’s Hualien branch shortly afterward, the agency said, adding that his cool composure was the key to avoiding a conflict in this case.
The agency has compensated Chih for the damage to his hives, and paid him a bonus under the Payments for Ecosystem Services scheme, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency
Chih agreed to take bear safety measures to prevent potential conflicts with the animals, it said.
In appreciation of Chih’s deft handling of the situation, the agency also assisted him in designing a gift box to memorialize the encounter, with an illustration of the thieving bear on the box, it said.
The gift box features honey “approved of” by the bear, containing a longan honey jar and a wildflower honey jar, the agency said, adding that it would be sold by Blossomie Honey (慕春蜂蜜).
Separately, the Tsou Hunters Association last week said a trail camera captured footage of a Formosan black bear tapping on the infrared device in October.
The camera was about 500m from the Tefuye Historic Trail (特富野古道) in Chiayi County’s Alishan Township (阿里山).
The association called on visitors to the trail to be aware of bear activities. To reduce the likelihood of encountering bears, people are advised to bring a bell or other noise-making equipment with them during trips to mountains with bear sighting records, it said.
They should bring bear repellent spray and keep it within reach in case of a bear emergency, it said.
People must not play dead, climb trees or take any provocative action if they encounter a bear, but must instead remain calm, face the bear and slowly back away, it said.
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
DEMAND: The government should enact regulations in line with Austria and Germany to incorporate vegan nutrition into school meals, an advocate said More than 1,000 people yesterday marched in Taipei to promote veganism, calling for legislation to incorporate vegan diets into school lunches and the national net zero emissions program. Participants gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building for the march, which was organized by the Vegan Action Network (VAN). Former ambassador to Chad Chiu Chung-jen (邱仲仁), actor Yankee Yang (楊子儀) and actress Cindy Lien (連俞涵) attended the event. VAN member Marianne Chao (趙梅君) said that the campaign aimed to urge the government to promote vegan diets across schools and government agencies via legislation and national policies, which would help build
RSS