《TAIPEI TIMES》 Jiaminghu trail closed for now after bear encounters

By Wang Hsiu-ting and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Public access to the Jiaminghu National Trail and Jiaminghu （嘉明湖） and Siangyanghu （向陽湖） in Taitung County has been stopped after a string of cabin break-ins by Formosan black bears, the Forestry Bureau announced on Monday.

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Bureau employees on Saturday last week were able to photograph the bear involved in the latest incident, when it was spotted perched atop the larder at the Siangyanghu Cabin, the bureau said.

As the encounter was the fourth bear sighting in just 10 days, public access to the Jiaminghu National Trail has been closed and reservations for the bureau’s two cabins in the area have been stopped for 15 days, starting today, it said.

The move is aimed at ensuring the safety of the public and the bear or bears involved, the bureau said.

The first sighting of a bear in one of the cabins was on the evening of Aug. 9, when staff at the Siangyanghu cabin reported seeing a black bear in their kitchen, which they chased away.

A second bear intrusion occurred four days later, in the early morning.

Hikers on Friday last week saw a black bear loitering outside of a warehouse near Jiaminghu and staff of the cabin at the lake later reported finding a crate that the bear had apparently dragged out of the cabin, with bear droppings near it.

Although the twin lakes area is a known Formosan black bear habitat, sightings are usually rare, Forest Bureau Taitung District Office Deputy Director Huang Chium-tse （黃群策） said.

The frequency of bear encounters in recent days suggests that the bears are becoming habituated to humans, which the bureau wishes to avoid, Huang said.

The bureau has scheduled a conference for Monday next week with black bear experts and hiker associations to discuss the situation, and the layout of the national trail to be improved during the closure to address the situation, he said.

Infrared cameras are to be installed to help with scientific study of bear activity, he added.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES