National Parks of Taiwan

A process of constant observation and waiting are needed to understand the world of the Guanwu Formosan Salamander, a rare species and about which there’s little dependable information. Without the work of Chen Jin-fa who shot the documentary film “In Search of the Jurassic Period Reptile—Guanwu Formosan Salamander,” additional information would not have been possible. Chen imagined how a Formosan Salamander would have lived in its time and solved the mystery of this creature that first appeared 180 million years ago.

The Shei-Pa National Park Headquarters spent 3 years of filming and has finally unveiled the life story of the Guanwu Formosan Salamander. “In the documentary, we see the salamanders struggle to survive amidst natural difficulties. In addition, we were touched by their family ethics,” said Lin Ching, the director of Shei-Pa National Park Headquarters. A salamander lays a pair of pods at a time. Each pod contains 4 to 15 eggs inside. Male salamanders particularly stay around pods to guard them in breeding period.

Chen, an ecological filmmaker, described the filming of the rare species as “thrilling” and “worrying”. “I was thrilled to film the documentary, to find them because they are rare,” he said.

“One day if nature stops breathing, how will human beings continue to live？I can’t halt environmental damage and I’m certainly incapable of rehabilitating species, but at least I can track them with my camera. Our descendants will know that Taiwan used to be so beautiful！” said Chen.

Chen’s documentary won the Platinum Remi Award for the Nature & Wildlife category at the 40th WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. It also won Honorable Mention for Cinematography at the 30th Annual International Wildlife Film Festival. It was also nominated at Singapore’s Wildlife Film Festival. The documentary film is playing at Taipei City Zoo until July 29. Please go to the link www.see-pa.org.tw/index217.asp for the broadcast schedule.