If you're looking for an exhaustive list of species endemic to Taiwan click here. What follows below is less than comprehensive.
1. Mammals
You'll see the Formosan black bear's likeness all over the island, but seeing a real one in the wild is hard. They're very solitary animals, and you'd have to travel very deep into the mountains to see one.
Taiwan has deer, serow and muntjac, wild pigs and otters, whales and dolphins, but the animal you're most likely to see is the Formosan rock macaque, an animal universally hated by farmers and overfed by many tourists. For the record I despise them. They're both aggressive and very territorial.
Of the wild animals I've seen in Taiwan my favorite was a flying squirrel which flew across the road as I was cycling up the coast in Taitung. The sun was just coming up, there were trees close to the road on either side, and the flying squirrel sailed right across my path.
I've seen a fair number of civets. I've seen a Chinese hare. I once saw a deer in a stand of trees along Highway 197 in Taitung.
Bats are easy to see at night. The difficult part is telling one type of bat from another.
Rodents, shrews, moles and solenodons? Same problem. I used to go running a lot at night in relatively remote places, and rodents would often squeak at me if I got too close to them. At night it was impossible to tell what kind of rodents they were.
A sign at Longluan Lake says that the area is inhabited by otters. I've been over there around sundown a few times hoping to see one, but so far I've only spotted birds.
2. Birds
Taiwan has over 400 types of endemic bird. I have two big books ("freshwater" and "saltwater") introducing these birds, and I have no doubt that you could spend years (maybe even a lifetime) attempting to photograph each type of bird in the wild. Many of these birds you'll probably never see, while some are ubiquitous.
Little egrets can be seen around fields or rivers, the Taiwan barbet ("5 color bird") is an oft-used symbol of Taiwan's biodiversity, and the Mikado pheasant is on the 1000 NT bill. I see brown shrikes everywhere.
3. Reptiles and Amphibians
I love snakes. I love seeing them outdoors, going about their daily business. I find them very interesting.
People new to Taiwan often worry over snakes. Honestly, the odds of getting bit by one are extremely low. Snakes such as the Chinese cobra, the many-banded krait ("umbrella snake") and the hundred-pace snake can definitely cause injury or even death, but a much larger percentage of snakes in Taiwan pose absolutely no danger to humans. The most venomous snake is actually the sea snake, but their fangs curve inward and they're not generally aggressive. As a general rule look at the head first. If it's triangular the snake in question is probably a viper, and you should give it a lot of room.
In Taitung I saw a lot more snakes, and many more kinds of snakes, than I've seen in Pingtung. The banded krait was fairly common, and people in the elementary school where I worked caught several Chinese cobras. Big-eyed ratsnakes ("guo shan dao") and oriental ratsnakes ("southern snakes") were also easy to spot. (1)
I don't have much experience when it comes to turtles in Taiwan, but I can tell you that they love the irrigation ditches in and around Fangliao Township. When my wife and I went walking around the area at night we often found stranded turtles next to the Mountainside Highway.
I know even less about Taiwan's amphibians, even though there are frogs and toads everywhere. The lot across from where we lived in Fangliao had frogs (or toads) that would dry out with the weather, and these animals would magically return to life with the first big rain. I found it somewhat unnerving.
4. Fish
My knowledge of fish only extends to the types farmed in Taiwan. Oh, and there are also the "festival" types of fish such as tuna and sailfish. The southern end of the island is surrounded by coral, so of course there are many types of fish to be found here.
5. Insects and Arachnids
You ever seen a giant grass mantis? I saw one in Hsinchu once. It was impressive.
Killer bees are a thing in Taiwan, so be careful when hiking in the mountains. Perfumes, deodorants, and other things that make you smell like flowers should not be worn while hiking through dense vegetation.
On the level of day to day living you'll most likely be interacting with ants, mosquitoes and cockroaches. These pests are more or less prevalent depending on the area. Mosquitoes dislike wide open spaces, ants are constantly on the hunt for food, and cockroaches love moisture. Older buildings will have more of these pests, while newer buildings will have less of them.
Spiders? I wouldn't worry about spiders too much. Those huge black and yellow bastards ("people face spiders") can be terrifying, but as long as you look where you're going they're fine.
6. People, Another Kind of Mammal
People are SO easy to see in Taiwan. They're almost everywhere. You have to work really hard to get away from people in Taiwan, but yes, it can be done. There are more people on the west coast than on the east, and more people at lower elevations than there are at higher elevations. My saying so probably seems obvious, but I've met many expats convinced that all of Taiwan is just like Taipei.
7. Places to See Animals
Are you an indoor or outdoor person? And how do you feel about mosquitoes? I'll start with the indoor places first, and then conclude this entry with the outdoor places.
Many of the forest recreation areas and national parks have interpretive centers where you can learn about local wildlife from a distance. Of course the animals in these places are either stuffed or replicas, but hey, it's a place to start.
For living animals you can head to the Taipei Zoo, the Kaohsiung Zoo or the National Taiwan Aquarium. I don't think that weird zoo in Tainan has any native animals. Farglory Amusement Park in Hualien has a small aquarium, but it's not really worth the price of admission. There are also the decrepit aquariums in Yeliou and Chenggong, Taitung County.. The science museum in Taichung and the National Museum of Prehistory in Taitung have exhibits on native animals. Is the zoo in Hsinchu still a thing? I'm not sure. (2)
To see animals in the wild, you'll have to head toward the mountains -- the deeper the better. Try to find somewhere people don't usually go, far from noise, lights and other disturbances. Finding such a place isn't easy, but then again it never is. Happy searching?
Related Entries:
1. Doesn't seem to be an English Wikipedia entry for the big-eyed ratsnake.
2. There's also a weird zoo in Nantou on Google Maps. Never been there, no idea. Last time I visited the Prehistory Museum in Taitung it was closed for renovations. I don't know if it's open now.
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