LINGERING AROMA: Bear tracks were found in the Tataka area, where few bears had ever been spotted, and officials said they might have followed the odor of instant noodles

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 23, 2019
By: Jake Chung  /  Staff writer, with CNA

Visitors to cabins in Yushan National Park should take their trash and leftovers with them when leaving the park to avoid changing the foraging habits of Formosan black bears, Yushan National Park Headquarters said on Thursday.

The office said that it found tracks and upended waste bins near Paiyun Lodge (排雲山莊), Lulin Lodge (鹿林山莊) near the Tataka area (塔塔加) of the park and at a research station near the Nantzuhsien River (楠梓仙溪) on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday last week.

The office contacted National Pingtung University of Science and Technology professor Huang Hsiu-mei (黃秀美), one of Taiwan’s premier experts on Formosan black bears, to identify whether the tracks were left by bears, and Huang confirmed that they were, office Deputy Director Lin Wen-ho (林文和) said.

Some of the trash that had spilled out of the trash cans had bite marks on it, Lin said, adding that it included leftover instant noodle bowls, fruit peels and leaf wrappings for zongzi (粽子, glutinous rice dumplings).    [FULL  STORY]