Formosan black bears have been recorded in the low-elevation forests of Taitung’s Beinan Township (卑南), with two communities capturing images of them, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s Taitung branch said on Tuesday.
A bear with the species’ distinctive white V-shaped chest marking was this year first recorded on Feb. 26 by Likavung Village (利嘉), the agency wrote on Facebook.
The sighting was followed by a second one, when a Pinaski community (下賓朗) patrol team retrieved footage from an infrared camera showing another bear moving through the forest at about 7:40am on March 15, it said.
Photo copied by Huang Ming-tang
The recordings were made in a mountainous area behind the Pinaski community in the Central Mountain Range, where a black bear death was reported last year, said Lin Meng-yi (林孟怡), head of the agency's nature conservation division at the Taitung branch.
The latest footage was discovered when patrol members reviewed memory cards from infrared cameras, she said.
The images are a sign of improving ecosystem health and reflect the success of community involvement in conservation efforts and habitat protection, she said.
After the black bear’s death was reported, the agency promoted its ecological services payment program among local communities to encourage residents to take part in mountain patrols, it said.
Communities participating in the program are eligible for a NT$50,000 reward if patrol duties are properly carried out and black bear footage is recorded, providing a tangible incentive to foster human-bear coexistence, the agency said.
Residents and campsite operators are reminded to manage food waste and trash carefully and to improve preventive measures for poultry and livestock facilities to avoid attracting wild animals, the agency said.
Residents can contact the agency’s work station to obtain improved hunting equipment free of charge to avoid accidentally catching non-target species, it added.
If a black bear is found trapped, they should immediately call 1999 or 0800-000-930 and report the incident, it said.
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