Endangered "Grass Owl" now found in Kaohsiung Yanchao Organic Agriculture Park

The endangered "Grass Owl" is now in Gao City's Yanchao Organic Agriculture Park. (provided by the city)

There are only about 500 endangered grass owls left in Taiwan. Kaohsiung City has expanded the grass owl-friendly habitat and expanded ecological benefits from District 2 to District 10. Monitoring by the Agriculture Bureau found that the scope of activities has gradually expanded, with the Luzhu and Swallow's Nest areas being the most active. For the first time, the Swallow's Nest Organic Agriculture Park was spotted resting and foraging, which is exciting.

The first-level endangered protected species of grass owl is an important nocturnal raptor in Taiwan. It is mainly distributed in Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung. The current population in Taiwan is estimated to be about 500. Kaohsiung promotes an ecological service payment plan to encourage farmers to farm in a friendly manner without using herbicides or rat poisons. Perches are set up to welcome raptors to stop, help farmers patrol fields to catch rats, and biological control improves rat infestations.

In the early days, the Agriculture Bureau focused on Qishan and Yanchao Districts, and gradually expanded the scope of friendly agricultural land and ecological conservation. Currently, it covers 10 administrative districts, and 303 farmers have joined the ranks of grass owl conservation. This year alone, 74 people have provided suitable foraging and habitat environments for grass owls, reducing the impact of agricultural production on wildlife habitats.

The Bureau of Agriculture has observed from monitoring records over the years that the range of activities, foraging and habitat records of grass owls has gradually expanded. Grass owls have been monitored at 6 locations, with a total of 47 recorded, including 23 bamboos and bird's nests each, and 1 large tree. For the first time, the bird's nest organic agricultural park recorded a grass owl stopping to forage, which is friendly to agricultural and ecological restoration.

Chen Liqing, a Kaohsiung farmer who has been operating an organic grass cultivation orchard for many years, is also a Kaohsiung City food and agriculture education seed teacher. She promotes food and agriculture education and friendly farming. Although the grass environment nourishes the land, it can also easily attract rodents. The orchard was once plagued by mouse holes. After setting up perches to welcome the grass owls, the number of potholes in the farmland decreased and the rat problem situation was improved. It has become the most vivid teaching material for food and agriculture education, allowing the public and school children to witness the effectiveness of environmental friendliness and biological control.