First official record of Formosan black bear entering worker's hut in Alishan

Taipei, Jan. 1 (CNA) A Formosan black bear broke into a worker's hut in Dabang Village, Alishan, reportedly consuming food from a refrigerator and canned goods, the first officially recorded incident of its kind in the area, local authorities said Thursday.

Personnel were dispatched to inspect the site and set up infrared cameras to track the bear after receiving the report on Wednesday, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency's Chiayi branch said in a statement.

The agency released photos showing an open refrigerator, broken eggs in a carton, and empty food cans inside the hut in the Indigenous Dabang Village, which sits at an elevation of 1,190 meters in Alishan, Chiayi County.

Experts found footprints near the worker's hut and, based on the damaged canned food, concluded that a Formosan black bear was responsible, the agency said.

Alishan is an area where Formosan black bears are occasionally sighted, but Wednesday's incident marked the first officially recorded case of a bear entering a worker's hut, according to the agency under the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA).

Over the past three years, Formosan black bears have been spotted five times near the southern end of the Tefuye Historic Trail, about 10 kilometers from Dabang Village, with the most recent sighting occurring just 500 meters from the trail last October, according to a press release by the agency three weeks ago.

People hiking in the area are urged to carry bear bells or devices that make noise to keep bears away and bear spray, while the agency has also started providing such items to local residents following Wednesday's incident, the agency said.

In 2022, the MOA included the endangered Taiwan endemic species to the list of animals for which authorities provide payments to people who report sightings, as part of an effort to map their area of activity and implement protective measures.

The Tefuye Historic Trail, near Yushan National Park, has always been a potential habitat for the species, according to Hwang Mei-hsiu (黃美秀), a professor at the Institute of Wildlife Conservation, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.

The recent sightings of Formosan black bears captured on camera are due to increased monitoring and do not represent unusual behavior, Hwang told Taiwan Public Television Service in a report on Dec. 12.