David on Formosa

Bradley Winterton reviewed a new book about birds in Taiwan in yesterday' Taipei Times. The book is titled The Swallows' Return by Kate Rogers. In the review Winterton notes,

it contains a marvelous account of the history of bird conservation on the island — how matters progressed from casual but widespread netting, both for the pot and for the sale of caged specimens, to government-supported attempts at conservation.

Perhaps things are not quite so rosy for Taiwan's birds. Today's Taipei Times reports, " Hunters are illegally killing 600 to 700 birds of prey every night". The article reports about the illegal killing of Grey-faced Buzzard Eagles (灰面鷲) which migrate to the south of Taiwan at this time of year. The article also says, "birds of prey are a popular dish here as well as in other Asian countries." 

The book review in the Taipei Times does go on to note the illegal hunting of large raptors and how this was an important impetus to wildlife conservation efforts in Taiwan thanks largely to the work of John Wu (吳森雄).

Rogers and Wilby met [Wu] in 2003 at the October gathering of bird-watchers in Kenting to observe the large raptors — Oriental Honey Buzzards, Grey-faced Buzzard Eagles, Chinese Goshawks — that congregate there, pausing to rest on their long migration south. The number of enthusiasts present are proof of changing attitudes, watching “large ‘kettles’ of raptors rising and swirling among massive cumulus clouds hanging over the glittering sea.”

After visiting the New York State branch of the Audubon Society in the US, Wu was made aware of the Taiwanese habit of barbecuing the Brown Shrike, as well as the capturing and exporting at that time of thousands of Grey-faced Buzzard Eagles a year, together with many other large-sized raptor species, to Japan. Eagles represented prosperity to the Japanese, he was told, and between 1976 and 1977 a staggering 60,000 Grey-faced Buzzard Eagles alone were captured and exported north to be slaughtered and stuffed.

This happened in the late 1970s. It is surprising that it is still happening today. Perhaps poor law enforcement combined with a lucrative black market trade are the reasons it continues. Hopefully some media attention will be enough to stop it. 

Update: Wild at Heart has a report on this issue. It says the number of eagles killed was "wildly exaggerated". It also says a man was arrested for having six dead Grey-Faced Buzzard Eagles in his possession. (added 25 October 2006) 

Update 2: Wild at Heart has another report on the problem. (added 26 October 2006)

Update 3: Wild at Heart has another post asking people to write to the Taiwanese government to express their concern about the hunting of raptors. (added 1 November 2006)

NOTES: I found this useful link for finding Chinese names of birds in Taiwan while writing this article. http://www.tesri.gov.tw/wild_contras/bird.html

Some photos of the Grey-faced Buzzard Eagle can be found here.