National Parks of Taiwan

Formosan black bears have been seen near Monroe Pavilion on the Yushan main peak trail and in the forest around Tataka. Yushan National Park Headquarters called on climbers and park visitors not to walk alone and be prepared to respond correctly if a bear is encountered in the park.

Yushan National Park Headquarters said that during the “Tataka area mammal survey” an expert was commissioned to carry out last year, in December an infra-red automatic camera took nine photographs of a bear on the slope below the Monroe Pavilion (elevation around 3,000 meters) on Yushan’s main route trail over a 34 second period; a bear was also photographed from behind in the forest around Tataka. Paiyun Shelter is being rebuilt, so the number of visitors has fallen drastically, and it was the annual “quiet mountain” closed period at the time the bears were photographed, the park headquarters believing the reduction in human disturbance has brought the bears back to their original habitat. The park headquarters said efforts will be made to find out if the bears recently photographed were just passing through or whether the places they were seen are on the bears’ fixed movement path.

The five things to do if a bear is encountered:

1. Leave quietly if the bear hasn’t seen you
2. If it sees you don’t make a sound and leave
3. If a bear chases you, run away fast
4. Don’t climb up a tree or play possum
5. If attacked, do your best to protect your body.

Translated by：Kevin Lax
Source：Yushan National Park Headquarters