Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Taiwan Wildlife Guide
To most of the world Taiwan is best known as one of the Asian Tigers, an
economic powerhouse critical to the world's IT supply chains. Decades
earlier it had a reputation (now overtaken by China) as a manufacturer of
cheap toys and electronics. But going back even earlier, Taiwan was not
just the 'beautiful island' but also the kingdom of the butterfly and an en-
demic species wonderland where one could find the most astonishing vari-
ety of native plants and animals.
Is there anything left of this old world? Plenty. Taiwan is in fact 60% forested, with about
20% (and growing) of the land officially protected as national park or forest reserve. One
of the absolute highlights of any trip to Ilha Formosa involves getting to know the flora
and fauna, much of which you can't find anywhere else on earth.
Taiwan lies across the Tropic of Cancer and most fact books record its climate as sub-
tropical. But with an extremely mountainous terrain (it's almost 4000m high in the centre),
Taiwan's climate can range from subtropical to subarctic, and its vegetation zones can
range from coastal to montane to alpine. It's been said that a journey 4km up to the 'roof'
of Taiwan reproduces a trip of many thousands of kilometres north from Taiwan to the
Russian steppes.
There are no comprehensive English books on Taiwan's wildlife, but the visitor informa-
tion centres at the country's national parks sell a wide range of individual books and
DVDs that cover butterflies, birds, mammals, reptiles and more.
Plants
Taiwan has 4000 to 5000 plant species, with an estimated 26% found nowhere else. Trav-
ellers will be most interested in the forest zones, which is a good thing because Taiwan
has plenty of forest cover.
STOPPING TO SMELL THE FLOWERS
Taiwan is not hurting for beautiful flowers to appreciate. The blooming period is long
and you can usually see something year-round. Here are a few scented petals to
watch out for, besides the sublime day lilies.
