《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》Keelung residents choose large faun as ‘city butterfly’

By Lu Hsien-hsiu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Faunis eumeus, or large faun butterfly, has been chosen by the Wild Bird Society of Keelung and the Butterfly Conservation Society of Taiwan as the ambassador to promote environmental education in Keelung.

請繼續往下閱讀...

The Keelung area provides a unique butterfly habitat, with the two societies claiming to have discovered about 169 species of butterflies in and around the city.

In July, the societies began a series of environmental education talks at schools and called on residents to vote for a “city butterfly.” They also published a book titled Keelung and Butterflies （蝶蝶不休話基隆）, so residents could gain a deeper understanding of the city’s fauna.

Wild Bird Society of Keelung director Shen Chin-feng （沈錦豐） said that the two groups jointly held more than 60 talks in the area and handed out more than 36,000 butterfly ballots.

The groups earlier this month received 12,500 ballots back on which butterfly would best represent Keelung, of which only 12,200 were valid ballots, Shen said, adding that the large faun butterfly came in at No. 1 with more than 5,000 votes.

However, the groups said that their event was not aimed at choosing a “city butterfly,” but was rather intended to promote environmental conservation and awareness across the city.

“We hoped to let residents and young people understand the particular characteristics of Keelung and what kind of ecosystem it has fostered,” Shen said.

The Keelung City Government said that the black kite is still its only official fauna representative.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES