New discoveries have been made at the Shei-Pa National Park.After 3 years of biological field studies, researchers have found the presenceof the only preserved insectivorous bat species in Taiwan – the Coelops frithi formosanus Horikawa – at the Xuejian Recreationalarea. The diversity of bat species in the Shei-PaNational Park is unique among theknown documentation records in Taiwan.This year the Park Headquarters collaborated with the Endemic Species ResearchInstitute of the Council of Agriculture to collect sound data of bats with theaid of ultrasonic detectors. Researchers have recorded data from Eptesicus and Tadarida teniotisinsignis (Blyth, 1861) – two species thathave never been recorded before at the Xuejian area. This discovery brought thetotal number of documented bat species in Xuejian to 24, which accounts for 77.4%of all insectivorous species (31) in Taiwan. The most abundant speciesare the Formosa long-earedbat and the Formosan tube-nosed bat, both of which are endemic species of Taiwan. Inaddition, researchers have picked up sambar calls in the nearby forests in thedusk hours of early December and have discovered the bark of a badly-wornJapanese Cedar less than 30m away from their building. This discovery hasindirectly proven the presence of sambar activities, a first in the XuejianRecreational area since the survey started in 1995.