生命的禮讚

紫斑蝶追追追

每年秋冬，當東北季風吹起，一波波冷氣團來襲，全台各地的紫斑蝶悄悄地在島內遷徙，數十萬隻的紫斑蝶聚集在北回歸線以南的山谷度冬，形成紫蝶幽谷。當天氣漸暖，紫斑蝶們再次動身，啟程北返，每分鐘數以萬隻的蝴蝶通過國道，壯觀的景象令人驚嘆！就讓我們一同追逐那迷人的紫色身影，感受生命的喜悅。

 

Paeans to Life:

The Secrets of Crow Butterflies

Every year, as the cold of winter begins to set in, crow butterflies quietly embark on their migration to the south. Hundreds of thousands of them gravitate towards Taiwan’s tropical valleys to winter there, bestowing a mystical allure upon these places. As warm weather returns, they begin to move north again. With upwards of 10,000 per minute flying across certain sections of the island’s highways, the spectacle is simply breathtaking.

 

有蝶出沒，高速公路讓道

自小學收到蝴蝶圖鑑後，便一頭栽進蝴蝶世界裡的詹家龍，從撰寫研究報告，到推動社區保育工作，再到紀錄片導演，拍攝《消失的紫斑蝶》。曾經他也只想尋找未被發現的新種，或是追逐珍稀的蝶種，對於全台普見的紫斑蝶並不特別感興趣。但一次在紫蝶幽谷中，被十萬紫蝶大軍震撼所萌生的敬意，他不禁思索，每年冬天這些渺小身影，究竟如何匯聚成震撼人心的力量，他想解開紫斑蝶的遷徙之謎。

Priority for butterflies

Chan reveals that he used to dream of chasing after rare butterflies. Common in many places across Taiwan, crow butterflies didn’t spark his enthusiasm. It was during a visit to a butterfly valley, where tens of thousands of crow butterflies gathered, that he was bowled over by the sheer grandeur of the scene. He wondered how these tiny insects could ever have come together to achieve such mind-­boggling sublimity, and the idea of probing the secrets of their migrations began to form in his mind.

詹家龍與志工們標記了一隻又一隻的紫斑蝶，逐漸對於紫斑蝶的遷徙蝶道有了瞭解。國道三號林內段與紫斑蝶春季北返的蝶道相交，高速的車流造成了紫斑蝶的路殺。在民間奔走下，高公局從善如流，啟動了「國道讓蝶道」保護措施，除了在國道架設防護網引導紫斑蝶提升飛行高度，當飛越國道的紫斑蝶每分鐘超過250隻時，即封閉外側車道，降低車流對紫斑蝶遷徙造成傷害。如此世界罕見的保育行動，還獲得日本JFA協會創意大賞的「海外賞」。

 

Having marked one crow butterfly after another and tracked their movements, Chan and the volunteers gradually obtained a fuller picture of the migration routes. The section of National Highway 3 that runs through Linnei in Yunlin County crosses the northward migration route that crow butterflies follow in spring. The fast-moving traffic here is deadly for the fragile migrants. Thanks to a campaign launched by Chan and his colleagues, the highway authorities set up measures to help the butterflies get across safely. In addition to protective netting on either side of the freeway, which encourages the ­butterflies to fly higher, a stretch of the outer lane is closed whenever the number of butterflies crossing here exceeds 250 per minute. Measures like these are rare anywhere in the world. In 2007 Chan won the overseas category of the Japan Fashion Association’s Creation Awards for his lifelong dedication to protecting Taiwan’s crow butterflies.