TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's Yushan National Park Headquarters (玉山國家公園管理處), the administrative body overseeing the island's largest alpine preserve, unveiled an expanded initiative Monday (May 12) focused on Formosan black bear conservation, featuring specialized rescue training programs and a new lecture series designed to promote human-wildlife coexistence. The mountainous protected area, renowned for its exceptional biodiversity, represents the only documented region where Taiwan's endemic bear subspecies exists in significant numbers.
Park officials have partnered with the Taiwan WildOne Wildlife Conservation Association (野灣野生動物保育協會), a local environmental organization, since 2024 to implement specialized training for wildlife personnel in bear rescue techniques and broader conservation efforts. The expanded program now includes educational lectures focused on reducing human-wildlife conflicts through improved public awareness. Officials noted increasing bear sightings in the park's southern sectors, leading to intensified community outreach in the rural Meishan (梅山) district, a mountainous area where human settlements border bear habitat.
The comprehensive conservation initiative will include eight public lectures and two specialized rescue training workshops scheduled between now and June 2026. Park authorities have already launched the program with an initial training session conducted on April 29, followed by the first public lecture held May 5 at the Taipei Public Library. This inaugural educational event featured international expertise from Dr. Wong Siew Te (黃修德), founder and director of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, who shared comparative conservation strategies from his work in Malaysia.
Wildlife monitoring data indicates a noticeable increase in Formosan black bear encounters in recent years, with the popular Walami Trail in the park's eastern region emerging as a particular hotspot for sightings. This uptick corresponds with patterns documented through decades of scientific research in the preserve. Park administrators have expressed mounting concern about the heightened risk of human-wildlife interactions, underscoring the critical importance of coordinated efforts between government agencies, conservation organizations, and local communities to prevent potentially dangerous encounters.
The conservation initiative builds upon a substantial foundation of scientific knowledge, with Yushan National Park supporting continuous research on the Formosan black bear population since 1998 — a nearly three-decade commitment to understanding Taiwan's largest land predator. Looking forward, park administrators have outlined a multifaceted strategy that combines enhanced scientific studies, improved emergency response capabilities for wildlife incidents, and expanded public education campaigns, all oriented toward the ultimate goal of sustainable coexistence between Taiwan's human residents and its iconic endemic bear species. ★