Daylily Mountain residents deploy dogs to drive away hungry macaques

Daylily Mountain residents deploy dogs to drive away hungry macaques

2026-04-20

A troop of macaques has been ravaging the Moso Bamboo Forest Trail in Taitung’s Taimali, eating the shoots before they have a chance to mature. Add to that typhoons winds blowing down older stalks, and the forest on Daylily Mountain is becoming increasingly sparse. Locals have tried everything to drive away the monkeys, to limited success. It wasn’t until earlier this year that they brought in a pack of dogs from a nearby vegetable garden to guard the forest, successfully driving back the brazen monkeys.

Seeing delicate bamboo shoots poking up from the ground is moving for the residents of this forest. For a while, they’ve been battling a troop of macaques that have been eating the shoots before they have a chance to grow, causing the forest to thin out until the weeds began growing taller than the bamboo.

Tsai Cheng-ming
Local hotel owner
There have been a lot of macaques around here the past few years. They eat all the shoots before they have a chance to grow. We thought they’d eat them all again this year, meaning the shoots will never grow into bamboo.

This is the Moso Bamboo Forest Trail on Daylily Mountain in Taimali. The 100 meter-long path used to be known as Taitung’s Xiaoxitou, but due to the macaques and typhoon damage, the once-dense thicket is nearly gone.

The monkey invasion has been intense, driving residents to exhaustion in their attempts to drive them away. But earlier this year, they turned to a nearby cabbage patch to enlist the help of their guard dogs.

People go daily to feed the eight dogs. With these canine sentinels, the macaques haven’t dared to return.

Tsai Cheng-ming
Local hotel owner
Cabbage doesn’t grow much during this season, so the dogs were just at home. We asked the neighbor if we could borrow them and brought the dogs to the trail. The growth this year has been pretty good. Some shoots are finally getting the chance to grow. We haven’t seen growth like this for 30 years.

Enlisting a pack of dogs to keep the macaques away has proven a resounding success. But the residents are also warning visitors to avoid the trail for now, as the dogs are highly territorial. It’s best to wait until the bamboo matures and the dogs return home before revisiting this hidden gem of Taimali.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#bamboo #bambooforest #dogs #macaques #wildlife #Taitung #Taimali #territorial #creativesolution #monkeys

壓制! 猴群肆虐孟宗竹林步道金針山居民派出”八狗軍團"

2026-04-20

台東太麻里金針山上的孟宗竹林步道，近年來因為猴群肆虐，把還沒長大的竹子吃掉，加上颱風侵襲，老舊竹子被吹倒，導致當地景觀越來越稀疏。當地居民想方設法趕猴，成效都不好，直到今年初，才跟鄰近菜園借來八隻狗軍團守護竹林，果然成功壓制囂張的猴子。

看到一根根竹筍逐漸冒出頭來長大，當地居民相當感慨，因為早期這裡，是一大片竹林，後來遇上獼猴侵襲，把來不及長成竹子的竹筍吃掉，導致竹林越來越稀疏，雜草都長得比竹子還多。

[[當地民宿業者蔡政銘]]
“這幾年很多獼猴嘛，就會去在竹子還沒長大的竹筍就開始把它吃掉，所以我們就想說今年也會再吃，我們的竹筍就沒辦法長成竹子。”

台東太麻里金針山上的孟宗竹林步道，約一百公尺長，曾經相當知名，還被稱作台東版小溪頭，但近年因為猴群肆虐，加上颱風肆虐，昔日茂密的竹林，幾乎已不復見。

猴子入侵竹林太囂張，居民想方設法趕猴、驅猴都沒用，年初跟隔壁高麗菜園借將，借來八隻狗鎮守竹林。

每天派人餵狗飼料，有八隻狗坐鎮，果然獼猴不敢來了。

[[當地民宿業者蔡政銘]]
“這一段時間其實他們高麗菜比較少，所以狗都在家裡，所以我們就跟附近的鄰居說，那你的狗借我，我們把牠牽去我們的竹林步道。今年的成果還不錯，所以有些竹筍現在慢慢已經長高了，這是我們這三十年來看不到的景象。”

以狗群壓制猴子，意外收到成效，但當地居民仍提醒，先別進入步道，因為狗狗的地域性很強，別靠近以策安全，等到竹筍長好，狗狗撤離後，一定會再開放這處秘境。

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