Tango with monkeys
In the past few years, wild Formosan macaques have begun to reproduce in large numbers at Wuling Farm. They steal from the peach and apple trees that the farm has worked so hard to cultivate, and they even ripped up and ate 9600 planted tulip bulbs, bringing the farm workers near to tears. In 2016 the macaques caused over NT$6 million in crop damage here.
To strike a balance between conservation and crop production, Wuling Farm’s director, Yuan Tu-chiang, adopted a “tango with monkeys” strategy: “You advance, I retreat.” They stopped cultivating crops that macaques love to eat and began planting things they don’t consume. In 2014 they first tried growing chrysanthemums, and discovered that the macaques were put off by their scent. From there they began gradually transitioning to chrysanthemums and reached a production volume of 500 kilograms in 2019.
Wang Ran-juh, chief of the farm’s Agricultural Division, says that their chrysanthemums have large petals and a bright yellow color because of the wide differences between daytime and nighttime temperatures in the mountains, the powerful ultraviolet rays of the sunshine, and the irrigation water from Mt. Xue. A rumor even started at an agricultural show that Wuling’s chrysanthemums must have been sprayed with growth hormones and dye to be so brilliantly yellow and luxuriant. Workers wryly remark, “If we were spraying them with chemicals, the protected Formosan landlocked salmon living in the Qijiawan River would all be dead by now.”
Speaking of the Formosan landlocked salmon (Oncorhynchus masou), a national treasure that lives in Shei-Pa National Park, after 20 years of conservation work their numbers have recovered far enough that scientists stopped releasing them into the Qijiawan River seven years ago. The population has remained stable, with 5800 salmon counted in 2019. There are, however, still concerns about the threat of climate change, so the Taiwan Salmon Eco Center is currently continuing its conservation work by releasing the salmon into the Luoyewei and Hehuan Rivers, to extend their habitat beyond the Qijiawan River alone.
Under the azure skies just after sunrise, we ride to the trailhead for hiking up Mt. Xue, from where we have a clear view of the ridgeline from the main peak of Mt. Xue to Mt. Dabajian and Mt. Nanhu. This vista is, as Wang Ran-juh reminds us, reproduced on Taiwan’s NT$2000 bill, along with the river valley and its Formosan landlocked salmon. Wang doesn’t forget to add that the Tourism Bureau is promoting travel to Taiwan’s mountain ranges under the theme “2020, Year of Mountain Tourism,” and that Wuling Farm offers an all-round mountain experience.
Wuling Farm is saturated with the colors of nature.