Taipei Times
Date: Jan 12, 2016
By: Ho Yu-hua and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
An endangered bird has been rescued from a fish restaurant, the New Taipei
A Taiwan hwamei perches inside a birdcage in New Taipei City on Friday last week. Photo courtesy of New Taipei City Government Animal Protection And Health Inspection Office
City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office said.
Police and animal protection personnel on Friday last week conducted a search of the restaurant, which is in the mountainous areas of Tucheng District (土城), after receiving a tip that it was illegally keeping a Taiwan hwamei (畫眉) (Leucodioptron taewanum), the office said, adding that a bird kept in a cage on the cashier’s counter was confiscated during the search.
The restaurant had broken the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法) by publicly displaying an endangered species without authorization, the office said, adding that investigations into the illegal trapping and trafficking of the bird are under way.
According to police, the restaurant’s owner, surnamed Chiang (江), said he did not know the bird was a member of an endangered species and that he had received it as a gift from a friend of his father-in-law. [FULL STORY]
