Wild animals, night and day

I’m on a roll when it comes to catching glimpses of Taiwan’s wild animals! Soon after an engrossing and enlightening midnight nature tour near my home, we were able to spend a few days in a thinly-populated part of Taiwan’s little developed east. 

This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival, a national holiday,l fell on a Thursday; it’s always celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month on China’s ancient lunisolar calendar. Many companies and almost every school decided to take Friday off as well, so people could enjoy a four-day weekend. 

We headed to a spot in Hualien known alternatively as Changhong (‘long red’) Bridge (長虹橋) or Jingpu (靜浦). The former, pictured above, crosses the Xiuguluan River just before it joins the Pacific Ocean. The latter is an indigenous community, and among the residents are Amis folk whose ancestors were likely involved in the Cepo Incident. 

Compared to the lush foliage that’s commonplace in Taiwan, not much grows between the trees hereabouts because the slopeland is more scree than soil. There are few insects as a result, but also fewer hiding places for larger creatures. One evening, before seeing a banded krait slither away, we came across what was either an immature Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) or a Formosan gem-faced civet (Paguma larvata) in the drainage ditch beside the road. Unable to scramble out and take cover among the trees, it ran hither and thither before making its escape. We were grateful to get such a good, close look.

The following day I walked by myself a few kilometres along Hualien County Route 64, a narrow road on the south side of the Xiuguluan River. As I expected, I saw several Formosan macaques leaping from tree to tree, plus some gorgeous butterflies and moths. But the most satisfying moments were those spent watching a family of three crab-eating mongooses (Herpestes urva) crossing the road, crossing back again, then scampering into the forest. I took several photos with my smartphone; none are worth posting here, but they did help with identification. The mongoose image above is borrowed from this webpage, where you’ll find several other excellent pictures.

Fresh facts III: Taiwan's Insects

Two things I learned in Taipei Zoo's excellent and very enjoyable Insectarium:

Relative to its land area, Taiwan has twice as many butterfly species as the Philippines, 17 times as many as Japan, and fifty times as many as the Chinese mainland.

Eighteen of the ROC's insect species are protected by conservation laws, including the Troides magellanus butterfly and Coptolabrus nankotaizanus, a ground beetle.

Two butterflies and a temple doorway...

There's no particular point to this post, just a photo of mine which I happen to like a lot. It shows two butterflies seemingly coupling (the process can take an hour or more) outside Zhen Fushe (鎮福社) a tiny and beautifully decrepit old shrine in Kaohsiung's Zuoying district. The temple has long been closed to the public.

Zhen Fushe is a stone's throw from the 18th-century walls of Fengshan and within walking distance of the Kaohsiung Museum of Military Dependents Villages.

Maolin

My recent trip to Maolin featured more than enough rain, mist and mud for my liking. However, I was still very impressed by how much there's to be seen there, even though damage done by Typhoon Morakot remains visible. Because of the weather I didn't take many photos. I saw aone monkey, a great many birds, but not many butterflies, even though wintertime is when vast numbers of purple and blue crow butterflies descend on Maolin. The valley and nearby areas amount to a butterfly migration point of international significance.

The butterflies shown here were in the enclosures at Maolin Ecological Park, which is right beside the main village. Most of the people in Maolin are Rukai aborigines.

There are no public buses to Maolin, so you'll need your own vehicle. A motorcycle is preferable to a car. Alternatively, get a local tour operator to organise everything; this article profiles one who takes people to see the butterflies.

Zhiben Forest Recreation Area

Last month I visited Zhiben (Jhihben) Forest Recreation Area, just south of Taitung City, for the first time since the early 1990s. Because the weather was surprisingly good, there were few people and it's a very well-managed place, I spent more time there than expected.

Here are some photos. From top to bottom: (1) Looking downriver from the bridge visitors cross before entering the forest, which is on the north bank of the Zhiben River.

(2) One of the forest's many giant banyans.





(3) A waterfall in the lower part of the forest recreation area.























 (4) A magnificent male Hebomoia glaucippe formosana spotted just outside the visitors centre and identified for me by this blogger (many thanks!). Unfortunately I couldn't get a full frontal. The forest offers much better butterflying than birding.

Why visitors to Taiwan shouldn't waste water

You might not believe it if you visit Taiwan in the wet summer months – or if you've seen what happens during a typhoon – but the island often suffers water shortages. Nature is part of the problem. The dry season is very long and rivers tend to be short and fast, so a lot of rainwater flows into the ocean before it can be used.

Rainfall per square kilometer is more than three times the global average, but because of Taiwan’s incredible population density, per capita precipitation is less than one-eighth of the world’s average.

The government has urged people and companies to use less, but under the current pricing system many households pay less than GBP2 (USD3) per month for their water, so there is little incentive to conserve water.

Taiwan has a growing number of 'green buildings', several of which feature rainwater-catchment systems. (In 1999, Taiwan’s government became the first in Asia, and the fourth in the world, to adopt sustainable-building standards). These systems store rainfall so it can be used to flush toilets and water lawns. Among the buildings fitted with rainwater-catchment equipment are libraries and factories.

Proposals to build new reservoirs and dams have run into opposition. One plan, to construct a dam that would have inundated Meinong's beautiful Yellow Butterfly Valley, seems to have been dropped for good. Another, which conservationists predict will “tear the heart out” of the Huben IBA (Important Birding Area), is going ahead, despite claims that it could fail disastrously in the event of an earthquake.

Butterflies big and small

During recent trips I came across two unusually cooperative butterflies. The first, one of the largest and most magnificent I have ever seen, posed for me during a visit to Fuyuan National Forest Recreation Area (also called the Butterfly Valley Resort) in Hualien. If I've identified it correctly (I'm a butterfly fan but no expert) it's a Small Birdwing. According to the Council of Agriculture's website, the forewing span can be as much as 20cm.I haven't been able to identify the other butterfly. I'm pretty sure it isn't rare; in any case, there were hundreds of similar specimens where I found it, flitting over a freshly-mowed lawn near my home in Tainan. As you can see, it's tiny, each wing being barely 1cm across.

Green Island

...and then we took a ferry to Green Island. On the voyage over (well, hardly a voyage - it only takes 40 minutes) we saw flying fish skimming the waves. On the way back I spotted a dolphin.

The photo on the left shows the few from the Across Mountain Old Path, a 1.8km-long track that goes through part of the interior. I've never seen so many lizards in one place as I did tramping up the stone steps. Green Island perhaps doesn't have as many butterflies per square kilometre as other parts of Taiwan, but it does have some species you don't often see on the 'mainland'.

Our trip was arranged by Green Island Adventures, probably the best-known and longest-running of Taiwan's foreign-run local tour operators. I interviewed the founder for this article.

400-plus reasons to go butterflying in Taiwan

Taiwan has 400-plus butterfly species, more than any Western European country, more than Japan (which has 10 times Taiwan’s land area), and more even than Sri Lanka, one of Asia's leading eco-tourism destinations. Fifty-six of these species - mostly tiny, easy-to-miss butterflies - are endemic.

Great places to see butterflies include Meinong's Yellow Butterfly Valley, Yangmingshan National Park, and Maolin (which like Meinong is in Kaohsiung County). But you needn't go out of your way - you'll see butterflies everywhere, especially in the rural lowlands between April and October.

Go here for a long article about Taiwan's butterflies I wrote a few years back.