Taiwan’s migrating crab population rebounds thanks to safer road crossings
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A pregnant mangrove land crab beside a seawall during the annual breeding season at Taijiang National Park in Tainan, Taiwan, on July 3.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Road closures and bamboo bridges in Taijiang National Park have helped protect Taiwan’s largest terrestrial crab during breeding season, reducing roadkill significantly.
- The crab population has risen from over 5,000 annually to more than 10,000 in 2025 due to these conservation efforts.
- Protecting the mangrove land crab supports coastal forest health and biodiversity, including the recovery of vulnerable species like the black-faced spoonbill bird.
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TAINAN, Taiwan - Road closures and bamboo bridges have helped protect Taiwan’s largest terrestrial crab species during breeding season when they return to the sea to lay eggs.
Taijiang National Park in the southern Taiwan city of Tainan is the mangrove land crab’s most important habitat and has the island’s largest population.
During the July-to-September breeding season, female crabs come down to the sea to release their eggs, but because their migration route crosses roads, it leaves them vulnerable to being run over.
Taijiang National Park Director Chen Jun-shan said the road closures and bamboo bridges have helped reduce roadkill and contributed to a rise in observed crab numbers from more than 5,000 annually in earlier years to more than 10,000 in 2025.
“As for the mangrove land crab, it can return all of these nutrient sources back into the land, allowing the coastal forest to become more abundant,” Chen said.
“So if you protect the land crabs, the entire coastal forest belt can be protected.”
While the environment got short shrift during Taiwan’s rapid industrialisation from the 1960s to 1980s, it is now a priority for the government, with a network of protected areas and national parks across the island drawing visitors.
The Tainan park is also home to black-faced spoonbill birds, a species listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, but which has bounced back from near extinction. REUTERS
