“The Southeast Asian myna is aggressive and breeds rapidly,” Chen said. “I have received numerous complaints from residents, many of whom claim it is increasingly difficult to spot nesting local mynas.”
David Ho, executive officer of Wild Bird Society of Taipei, said foreign mynas began arriving in Taiwan more than 20 years ago as pet shop imports. Mostly common and white-vented mynas, the birds proved popular with consumers until they got them home.
“These mynas are noisy, consume large amounts of feed and produce foul-smelling excrement,” Ho said. “Many owners quickly grew tired of the birds and released them into the wild.
“Even the pet shops would lose patience and turn them loose when business was bad.”
A WBST survey carried out along the banks of Tamsui River in New Taipei City last November revealed that only 63 of 940 mynas were from Taiwan. The society puts the number of endemic mynas in Greater Taipei at around 100 versus 3,000 for those from abroad.
According to Ho, another reason for the prevalence of foreign mynas is they mate with the indigenous species, producing offspring that prove even more formidable competitors.
“Although the endemic myna was listed for protection in 2008, time is running out,” Ho said. “The government must do more to address this matter going forward.”
Yen I-feng, director of Taipei City Animal Protection Office, urged the public and pet shops to steer clear of buying and selling mynas. “The issue of local species disappearing as a result of those introduced from overseas is a problem of national proportions.
“This office will coordinate its efforts with the Forestry Bureau under the Council of Agriculture and leave no stone unturned in battling to save Taiwan’s mynas.” (DF-JSM)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw