Taiwan: Police to crack down on land crab hunting in Tainan national park

Tainan, July 7 (CNA) Police are taking steps to prevent poaching of land crabs in Taijiang National Park in Tainan, southern Taiwan, to ensure that the crustaceans can reproduce, the National Police Agency said in a statement Friday. According to the statement issued by the agency's Seventh Special Corps, it will enforce patrols at the national park as Cardisoma carnifex, the largest land crab species in Taiwan, enters its breeding season in July and August. During the two months, female land crabs will carry their eggs from the windbreak near the Chengxi Menghuan Pond to the beach after sunset to lay them in the water, a potentially lethal route in which they could get run over by vehicles or caught and cooked by people, the police said. The corps said it will control traffic on the road on the Qingcaolun Bank to keep the land crabs safe at night. People who catch and hunt land crabs in national parks are in violation of the National Park Law and are subject to a fine of up to ...