The weedy forest on the south side of Zhiben Wetland was burnt yesterday, and today it is a piece of scorched earth.

(Photo by reporter Huang Mingtang)

[Reporter Huang Mingtang/Taitung Report] The weed forest next to the Zhiben Wetland in Taitung City caught fire yesterday (26th) evening, fueled by the southerly wind, and the fire did not subside until 1:00 am today.

The burnt prairie showed scorched earth this morning. Some bird watchers went to the site to investigate. Fortunately, the wetland itself was not affected, but the adjacent land is an important habitat for ring-necked pheasants. It is now in the brooding period, and the population may be affected.

A person who has been photographing birds in Zhiben Wetland for a long time heard yesterday that the fire in the wetland had spread to 50 hectares. He was quite worried. He rode a motorcycle to the wetland this morning to see what happened and found that the wetland was intact. The weeds on the south side of the forest, the weeds in the lower half were burned to scorched earth, and the silver acacia in the upper half was shrouded in smoky heat for several hours, and they were probably dead.

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Zhiben Wetland is within the scope of the pre-developed area under the county government commonly known as "Jedil". The whole area of ​​Jedir covers an area of ​​260 hectares. The current situation is mostly miscellaneous trees and weed forests. Unknown fires occur almost every year. Yesterday's The fire is the hottest it has ever been.

The Taitung County Fire Department stated that the weed fire in Zhiben Wetland was completely extinguished at 1:00 a.m. today. It is estimated that the fire burned an area of ​​about 6 hectares. The cause of the fire still needs further investigation.

The Wilderness Conservation Association and the Wild Bird Society of Taitung County invited 60 people to investigate the ecology of the shrubs around the Zhiben Wetland under the theme of "Looking for Crowing Chickens" yesterday morning. A total of 196 ring-necked pheasants were investigated, a record number It is a new high in 6 years, and there are 18 orioles and more than 73 thrushes.

After the investigation was over, a big fire broke out in the evening, which caused a lot of discussion among conservationists, worrying about whether there were human factors.

Su Yating, environmental issues group leader of the Taitung Branch of the Wilderness Conservation Association, said that the ring-necked pheasant is currently only abundant in the Huadong area, and it is a species that needs to be conserved. This season and time just happen to be the breeding season for birds. This fire has a great impact on the birds and their ecology. disaster.

However, some people said that it is currently a drought, and almost all the weeds in the wild are dry and easy to ignite. There are weed fires reported almost every day in all parts of the county, which should be due to the high probability of spontaneous combustion.

A fire broke out in the grassland on the south side of Zhiben Wetland yesterday, but the wetland was not affected and was in good condition this morning.

(Photo by reporter Huang Mingtang)

The weedy forest on the south side of Zhiben Wetland was burnt yesterday, and today it is a piece of scorched earth.

(Photo by reporter Huang Mingtang)