eTaiwan News
Central News Agency
Date: 2015-05-28

Taipei, May 28 (CNA) A Russian newspaper on Wednesday ran a long feature story about Taiwan’s efforts at protecting a young Siberian crane which flew into a north Taiwan wetland after getting lost in December last year. The Siberian Times’ story, by Derek Lambie, said the one-year-old bird has become a minor celebrity and attracts hundreds of visitors a week and even has its own Facebook page. The white bird — which is threatened with extinction — landed in the wetlands in the north of New Taipei five months ago, said the report. It has since been given a government guard after winning the hearts of local people, said the report.

Managing to survive attacks from hawks and even stray dogs, the male crane is the first ever to land in Taiwan and has been given a “coveted protection status,” said the daily. It noted that the local government has hired a security detail to watch over the bird every day from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., with more than 100 people a day going to see it. The site now has a video camera set up to allow people to watch it and there is even a fan page for the crane on Facebook, organized by a non-governmental organization, the Siberian Times said. “The government and people have done a lot to ensure the safe stay of the crane,” the daily quoted well-known ornithologist Ding Tzung-su, an associate professor at the School of Forestry and Resource Conservation at National Taiwan University. “The most complete and up-to-date information about it is kept on the Facebook page, where volunteers write a daily log on all its activities,” said Ding. The crane, which lives in eastern Russia, normally migrates to Poyang Lake in central China for the winter.     [FULL  STORY]