Want China Times, CNA 2014-12-15
A survey on wild animals on Taiwan's northern coast between the Tamshui and Jinshan areas has found that since farming activities on the villages skirting Yangmingshan National Park and human consumption of wild animals decreased, many idle farm plots are turning into second-growth forests and rare wild animals are reappearing.
Formosan rock monkeys in the Taipei Zoo, Feb. 11. (File photo/Yao Chih-ping) |
A survey on wild animals on Taiwan's northern coast between the Tamshui and Jinshan areas has found that since farming activities on the villages skirting Yangmingshan National Park and human consumption of wild animals decreased, many idle farm plots are turning into second-growth forests and rare wild animals are reappearing.
The
Forestry Research Institute under the Council of Agriculture said that the
survey found an abundance of wild animals in the second-growth forests with a
diversity comparable to the country's national parks, which have long been
under strict protection.
The survey
recorded ferret badgers, masked palm civets, civet cats, pangolins, Formosan
rock monkeys, Reeves' muntjac and boars.
The survey
also found that the population density of several animals are higher than those
of the natural forest just two kilometers away, including twice the number of
masked palm civets and five times the number of ferret badgers. Civet cats have
even been spotted on the outskirts of mountain villages.
The
institute claims that the reappearance of the wildlife is related to the
diminished farming activities and fewer people eating the wild aninmals.
More than
20 years ago, farming was thriving in the villages near Yangmingshan National
Park, and many residents regarded wild animals as pests or food for
consumption.
Over the
last decade, however, much of the farmland has been left unused, making it a
paradise for wildlife again.
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