Formosan black bears live high up in the mountains, in thick forests where it is hard for people to follow. They are shy. Even the people who study them sometimes go weeks without spotting one. Most of what scientists know about the bears comes from photos taken by hidden cameras, and from footprints in the mud.
A grown-up bear weighs about 100 to 200 kilograms - around the same as two grown-up people. They are very good climbers. A bear can pull itself up a tree faster than a person can run. They climb to find berries, honey from wild bees, and tasty bark to nibble. Most of their diet is actually plants, not meat.
Each bear has a slightly different V-mark on its chest. Some are wide. Some are narrow. Some look more like a Y or a U. Scientists use the shape of the V to tell each bear apart, in the same way fingerprints tell people apart.
There are only a few hundred Formosan black bears left in the wild. National parks like Yushan and Taroko protect their forest homes. Cubs are sometimes raised in special centres if they have been hurt, and then taught how to find food on their own before being released back into the mountains.