Jiaming Lake National Trail and mountain huts in eastern Taiwan to be reopened on Sep. 6

台灣東部嘉明湖國家步道和山間小屋將於9月6日重新開放

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)-- Jiaming Lake National Trail will be reopened on Sep. 6 after the emergency closure on August 22 following four incidents of Formosan black bears intruding into mountain huts in August alone, Forestry Bureau announced on August 30.

Forestry Bureau issued a news release on August 20 to announce the emergency closure of the popular national trail and the Xiangyang and Jiaming Lake lodges along the trail, saying they would be closed due to the four incidents of Formosan black bears intruding into the mountain lodges. Accordion to the release, on the night of August 18, a high altitude porter captured close-up images of a Formosan black bear inside a mountain lodge being totally unafraid of the presence of humans.

During the two-week closure, Forestry Bureau’s Taitung Forest District Office (TFDO) closed the kitchen vents of the two mountain lodges, examined and strengthened their surroundings, according to Forestry Bureau.

The announcement to reopen the trail on Sep. 6 was made after conclusions were drawn from a meeting called by the TFDO to discuss the issue of how to improve the situation, Forestry Bureau said.

The meeting took place on August 29 and was attended by 20 experts, including wild animal experts and representatives from national parks, mountaineering groups, wild animal protection groups, and local high altitude porter groups, the bureau said.

As part of the conclusions drawn from the meeting, mountaineers must sign on guidelines for prevention of human-bear conflicts, effectively manage their food and storage, and abide by the instruction of the mountain lodge managers in how to prevent and deal with bears, Forestry Bureau said.



A Formosan black bear is seen inside the Xiangyang lodge (photo courtesy of 天馬登山社提供)