page_title: Formosan black bear
section_title: Endangered species
hierarchical_section_title: Formosan black bear / Endangered species
caption_attribution_description: 中文（台灣）‎: 2017世大運女子排球賽，烏克蘭對加拿大
context_page_description: The Formosan black bear, also known as the white-throated bear, is a subspecies of the Asiatic black bear. It was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1864. Formosan black bears are endemic to Taiwan. In 2001, they were voted the most representative wildlife of Taiwan in a half-year-long countrywide voting campaign. They are also the largest land animals and the only native bears in Taiwan.
  Because of severe exploitation and habitat degradation in recent decades, populations of wild Formosan black bears have been declining. This species was listed as "endangered" under Taiwan's Wildlife Conservation Act in 1989. Their geographic distribution is restricted to remote, rugged areas at elevations of 1,000–3,500 metres.
context_section_description: From 1998 to 2000, 15 Formosan black bears were captured and radio collared in Yushan National Park. Reported bear sightings are very infrequent and no one knows exactly how many bears still exist. The species has been legally protected since 1989 but illegal hunting continues and such poaching continues to threaten Formosan black bear populations. For example, eight of fifteen bears captured in the above survey had missing toes or paws, caused by illegal traps.
  Since 1989, Formosan black bears have been listed as endangered animals and protected by Taiwan's Cultural Heritage Preservation Law (Traditional Chinese: 文化資產保存法). Internationally, the entire species of Asiatic black bear is listed on Appendix I of CITES. CITES bans all international trade of any products from this species. The species is also listed on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as vulnerable.
  An indigenous Bunun hunter once said, "If there were no bears in the mountains, the forest would look empty and I would feel lonely." Mei-Hsiu Hwang of Institute of Wildlife Conservation, a campaigner for black-bear preservation, also said: "We do not wish to lose this soul of Taiwan's mountains. We do not wish our offspring to see them only in the zoo or in history books."
  There is still hope for the Formosan black bear. In 2009, Lin Yuan-Yuan (a member of Yushan National Park's black bear conservation group) recorded footage showing a mother bear attempting to help her two cubs cross a rapid near Batongguan Historic Trail (八通關古道) in the eastern section of Tafen (塔芬).
caption: Mascot of the 2017 Summer Universiade held in Taipei, Taiwan.
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D600", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "My Image Garden", "Image DateTime": "2017:08:24 16:18:36", "Image Artist": "Yueh,LeiShen", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image Copyright": "LsYueh", "Image ExifOffset": "250", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1068", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4809", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/400", "EXIF FNumber": "9/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:08:22 13:38:44", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:08:22 13:38:44", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "540241/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "86797/20000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Fine weather", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "185", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "80", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "80", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2723", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1536", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "54886891/32768", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "54886891/32768", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "185", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "8009006", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[80, 200, 14/5, 14/5]", "EXIF LensModel": "80.0-200.0 mm f/2.8"}