Taiwan rhesus monkeys and other eight kinds of animals were removed from the list of conservation animals, and 17 species, including Taiwan's Vermilion Bird, were upgraded to conservation animals.

Share + 1 Tweet Email

There is a great controversy over whether Taiwan macaques should be removed from conservation animals. on the 25th, the Forestry Bureau of the Council of Agriculture of the Council of Agriculture held a "consultation meeting on Wildlife Conservation of the Committee of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan." it was originally expected to end at 05:30 in the evening, but due to differences of opinion, a press conference was held as late as 07:30 in the evening to announce that Taiwan macaques, white nose hearts, and Shanqiang will be changed from conservation to general wild animals.

Seventeen species of animals were upgraded to conservation animals, and eight species were reduced to general wild animals.

According to the results of today's meeting, 17 species of animals have been upgraded from general category to conservation category, including three-toed quail, Taiwan Vermilion Bird, long-tailed dove, red-waisted curlew, chestnut-backed robin, yellow-breasted serval eyebrow, white-eared thrush, blackhead bird, crown-feathered thrush, rock lark, Dong chicken, black-tailed snipe, great shore snipe, red-bellied snipe, grass snake, green-headed submersible duck, and golden bunting.

Another eight species of animals have been downgraded from conservation to general wild animals, including the controversial Taiwanese macaque, as well as Shanqiang, white-nosed heart, field snipe, tortoise shell flower, umbrella section, cobra, and short-legged climbing lizard. Lin Hua-ching, director of the Forestry Bureau, stressed that Taiwan's macaque population is on the rise and that it is not to solve the problem of agricultural damage that it has been transferred to a general category of wild animals. It is also reduced to a general category of wild animals, but it is still regulated by the Wildlife Conservation Act. In the protected area, if you hunt at will, you can be fined 60 to 300000.

Forestry Bureau: Taiwan rhesus monkeys are on the rise and are classified as general wild animals.

Lin further explained that there are different intensity of wildlife protection, such as habitat protection, species protection, individual protection, and so on, and all wild animals have different intensity of protection. After discussion by experts and scholars, according to the distribution and long-term trend of the macaque population in Taiwan, it can be classified as a general category without immediate and major impact.

There is no causal relationship between agricultural damage caused by Taiwan rhesus monkeys and whether it is adjusted to general category or not. Lin Huaqing specifically stated that Taiwan's rhesus monkeys did not consider solving the problem of agricultural damage by adjusting their grades. When Taiwanese rhesus monkeys are listed as conservation animals, farmers can make a declaration to deal with them immediately and necessary in accordance with the law.

Lin Lianggong, Distinguished Professor, Department of Life Sciences, Tunghai University (Photography / Liu Yixin)

Scholars: habitat conservation is more important than species conservation.

"habitat conservation is more important than species conservation." Lin Lianggong further explains that some endangered species in Taiwan, such as otters and stone tigers, are due to the loss of habitat. "Don't think that if you are reduced to a conservation species, you can hunt without restrictions. In fact, habitat conservation is more important than anything else."

According to the Wildlife Conservation Law, wildlife reserves and state-owned forest areas, regardless of conservation or general animals, are not allowed to hunt, accounting for 45% of the total area of Taiwan. Lin Lianggong says that according to these 45% of the habitat reserves, the distribution of Taiwan macaques is consistent with that of Taiwanese macaques, with habitat protection from north to south. However, Lin Lianggong also said that the assessment of habitat-related development should be maintained and that no man-made development should be done, otherwise it would affect habitat restoration.

After Taiwan rhesus monkeys have been relegated from conservation to general, do they still receive due protection? Xia Rongsheng, head of the conservation team of the Forestry Bureau, explained that except that animals are not allowed to be hunted in wildlife reserves and state-owned forest areas, according to Article 17 of the Wildlife Conservation Law, general wild animals are not allowed to be hunted arbitrarily, otherwise they will be fined 60 to 300000.

The norm for conservation animals is that they are not allowed to hunt or slaughter at will, otherwise they will be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of six months to five years and a fine of 200000 to 1 million yuan.

If it endangers agricultural and forestry crops or public safety or human life, conservation animals can be directly hunted or slaughtered in case of emergency, while general animals can be hunted or slaughtered directly.

Pei Jiaqi: the list of conservation wildlife should be adjusted regularly.

Pei Jiaqi, dean of the School of Environment at Donghua University, said that the list of conservation wild animals should be adjusted regularly, and the last review was in 2009, and experts and scholars had already identified Taiwanese macaques as a general category, but there was a consensus at that time that in order to avoid a major impact, species should not be downgraded by two levels, so Taiwanese macaques were only downgraded from precious and rare conservation to general conservation at that time.

Pei points out that the conservation list is getting fewer and fewer, which is a very happy thing in the international community. "the longer the list, the more problem species, and everyone is working on conservation as few as possible."

Pei believes that the negative impact of being reduced to a general category of fear may happen, but it may not happen, and the actual response measures and regular monitoring are the focus. Taiwan has not done any monitoring in the past, and we do not know what changes have actually taken place. In order to detect changes in population trends in time and make corresponding adjustments, "if Taiwan's macaque population decreases in a year's time, it should become a conservation category again."

Forestry Bureau: set up a monitoring team to adjust according to the data

In order to prevent the rapid decline in the number of Taiwan rhesus monkeys after being relegated to the general category, the meeting also decided to set up a monitoring group. Lin Huaqing explained that if it is really reduced to the general category in the future, a monitoring program will be launched to observe whether there are any significant changes in ethnic trends. "even if there is clear data, it can be adjusted again, and it will not be said that if it is adjusted to a general class, it will always be a general class." Lin Lianggong also points out that it will be reviewed every two years, and any anomalies will be raised immediately and can be adjusted dynamically.

Lin Lianggong says that Taiwanese macaques have no natural enemies and can survive as long as they survive their infancy. "there is a bit of overreaction in the outside world, and many farmers are actually reluctant to kill macaques." And there is a growing awareness of conservation in Taiwan. "if you kill any macaque, you will probably lose your reputation."

Lin Huaqing also believes that Taiwan's citizens' literacy has improved, and the mentality of caring for wild animals is widespread. If there are incidents of cat or dog abuse, they will be reported, and the whole civil society has a restrictive force, so it can also play a certain role in Taiwan macaques.

Taiwan rhesus monkeys have been downgraded from conservation to general. From now on, 60 days' notice will be given to collect opinions from all walks of life.

Share + 1 Tweet Email