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| [Wildlife Conservation] Twenty-Three Years of Effort, Wild Deer Appear Again in Taiwan
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| Author：MEPO Humanity Technology Inc. Position：Sci-Tech Taiwan Editor for the NSC Newsbrief |
| Article Source：mepopedia.com |
| Publish Date：2009.03.15 |
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Taiwan was once the land of wild Formosan sika deer. Groups of wild deer were seen everywhere casually eating grass in the fields. However, due to hunting and deerskin export, wild Formosan sika deer were announced officially to be extinct in the wild in 1969. Yet, after government and the academic's twenty-three years of effort, about one thousnd of wild deer are observed around Kenting in the Southern Taiwan.
Formosan sika deer (Cervus nippon taiouanus) is an endemic subspecies in Taiwan. Formosan sika deer is called “plum blossom deer” in Chinese for its white spots on the back. Three hundred years ago, groups of wild deer could be observed everywhere in the middle and low elevation fields or hills of Taiwan. From the place names such as Lugu (鹿谷 vale of deer) Village of Nantou County, Chulu (初鹿) and Luyie (鹿野, filed of deer) Village of Taitung County, and Shalu (沙鹿) Township of Taichung County, one can imagine the picture of the wild deer in abundance at that time. The president of Taipei Zoo Jason Yeh said, during the period of Holland colonization (around 1624) wild Formosan sika deer suffered mass hunting, 150,000 hunted per year. Taiwan was once then the primary supplying country in Japan deerskin market. Added was also the habitat damage. These factors made the deer extinct in the wild.
The Formosan sika deer Recovering Program started in 1986. Twenty-two pureblooded were chosen from zoos and got prepared for release into the wild in Kenting National Park. They went through three stages: preparation, stocking and introduction into the wild. Groups of deer were preserved in large scale of preservation land first, got used to the wild field, and finally were introduced into the wild. The fourteenth introduction was held last month in Kenting-Chuhuo Area. The present barricade of Formosan sika deer's survival in the wild are: first, wild dogs' hunting; second, human hunting. To promote the idea of wildlife conservation is still a major key task.
Reference: Taipei Zoo
Reference:
Liberty Times 2009/02/22 (in Chinese)
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