News from Taiwan, 3rd December 1999RARE OTTER APPEARS IN KINMENby Sofia Wu, Central News Agency Kinmen, Dec. 3 (CNA) A rare Euroasian otter has been discovered on the Republic of China-held frontline island of Kinmen, which lies closer to mainland China than to Taiwan. The otter, believed to be less than one year old, was spotted by a Kinmen civilian resident in the backyard of his home on Thursday night. The resident kept the small creature in a cardboard box to protect it from being hurt by stray dogs before handing the creature to the Kinmen National Park Administration on Friday. Park administrators said the animal belongs to one of the world's five threatened otter species. It is widely regarded as an "index animal," as its presence or absence from a maritime area can serve as a gauge of the environmental quality for that area. The Kinmen island group is a natural habitat of the Euroasian otter, a small animal with brown fur, short legs and a long tail. Otters swim well and eat fish. The Kinmen National Park has selected the Euroasian otter as its representative animal. The park has also commissioned National Taiwan University Associate Professor Lee Ling-Ling to conduct an otter-related ecological study. Lee will travel to Kinmen on Saturday to decide either to release the newly found otter after implanting it with a computer chip to allow it to be tracked, or to raise it until it matures enough to survive in the wild. --- end --- |
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Related reference Links Wetlands Protection Society: "...Kinmen branch focuses its activities on riverotters, which have almost totally disappeared from Taiwan, but are still seen on Kinmen. The branch has published special booklets on the animal's ecology and has received a promise from Kinmen National Park that it will name the otter as a special lucky national park animal, and also work to conserve the species." --- International Conservation Newsletter Issue 6-1, The Society for Wildlife & Nature, Taiwan.
Mapquest - Kinmen is indicated as "Chinmen (Quemoy)" on the map.  |