Taiwan military fires into habitat for endangered dolphins: group+

Taiwan military fires into habitat for endangered dolphins: group+
Jun 17 03:37 AM US/Eastern
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D98S9Q880&show_article=1

TAIPEI, June 15 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Taiwan's military fired grenades and mortar shells into a key habitat for endangered dolphins during live-fire exercises Wednesday, an environmental protection group said.

A dwindling population of Chinese white dolphins was at risk from howitzers in the Da-an River Estuary on Taiwan's west coast, a major habitat for the dolphins, the Taipei-based Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association said.

"The military is not showing any regard for the welfare of this critically endangered group of dolphins," said Christina Macfarquhar, a researcher at Wild at Heart.

Only about 100 of the animals, also known as "Eastern Taiwan Strait Humpback Dolphins," remain, Macfarquhar said.

Last year, the dolphins were listed as "critically endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the world's largest conservation network.

The population is unique to Taiwan, with skin pigmentation and other attributes not generally found in other Chinese white dolphin populations in Asia, she said.

Threats to the animals include fishing nets, pollution and loss of habitat amid industrial development and poorly regulated fishing practices.

Since the IUCN placed the dolphin population on its "red list," the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou has done little to protect the animal, environmental groups in Taiwan say.

For Wild at Heart, the military's exercises underscored the administration's lack of concern.

Asked for comment, military media liaison officer Col. Ben Wang confirmed the exercises, saying shells had been fired into the water.

But he said he was unaware of concerns about the dolphins.

"Taiwan has Chinese white dolphins?" he asked, adding, "This isn't the first time we've conducted these exercises -- these are regular maneuvers."

Macfarquhar said the military had participated in Cabinet-level meetings on protecting the dolphins, "so they should be aware of this issue."

"The fact that they're firing shells right into the habitat shows how much attention they've paid to it," she added.

環團：台灣軍方發射砲彈至瀕危海豚棲息地
作者：Max Hirsch　台北6月15日（日本共同通信社）

環保團體表示，台灣軍方在週三的實彈演習，發射自走砲至瀕危海豚的重要棲息地。

台灣蠻野心足生態協會說，台灣西岸的大安溪出海口屬於中華白海豚的主要棲息環境，軍方砲彈使原本數量已經愈來愈少的海豚生命受威脅。

「軍方並未對這群極度瀕危的海豚表示任何關切之意。」蠻野心足的研究員馬書奇說。

馬書奇提到，這種海豚又稱為「東台灣海峽印太洋駝海豚」，目前大約只剩下一百隻。

台灣的中華白海豚族群去年被世界最大的保育組織「世界自然保育聯盟」（IUCN）列為「極度瀕危」(Critically Endangered, CR)。

她說，這種海豚是台灣獨特的海豚，牠們的皮膚斑點和其它特徵都跟亞洲其他中華白海豚族群不一樣。

對海豚造成威脅的因素，包括工業發展及不當捕魚方式產生的漁網、污染、以及棲息地喪失等問題。

台灣環保團體表示，自從世界自然保育聯盟把這種白海豚族群列在「紅皮書」以來，馬英九政府並未在白海豚的保育工作上盡點心力。蠻野心足認為，軍事演練凸顯出政府漠視這個問題。

軍事發言人室王瑞隆上校在被徵詢意見時，確認有軍事演練這回事，並說他們的確有朝水裡發射砲彈。

不過他說對白海豚的議題並不知情。

「台灣有中華白海豚嗎？」他說。

「這並非我們第一次進行演習了，而且這是定期的軍事演習。」

馬書奇說軍方曾參與討論白海豚保育的內閣會議，「所以他們應該知道這個問題。」

「而且他們直接瞄準棲息地發射砲彈，也顯示出他們完全不在乎這個議題。」她補充道。