With the rise of conservationism, scholars have been heading into the mountains to conduct surveys. They have found that, though the government has established nature preserves, hunting has simply gone underground, making it even more difficult to manage. It is not only that the hunting tradition of the aboriginal peoples cannot be eradicated overnight; poachers from the lowlands have also been active.
隨著保育的風潮而起，同時動物學者也深入台灣山區進行資源調查，研究人員發現，政府設立保護區、希望人為活動退出、減少干擾自然，反而讓狩獵活動轉為地下，不僅原住民狩獵傳統很難一夕斷絕，平地山老鼠盜採、盜獵也不時發生。