A group launched a search yesterday in a mountainous area in Linkou Township (
County police received a report the previous day from a goat farmer in Linkou, who said that earlier that day that 10 of his 100 goats had been mauled to death by "some large feline."
An Indonesian worker who told police she had witnessed the attack said she had just entered a sheep pen to feed the animals when "a big animal" roared at her, whereupon she fell down the stairs.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The worker fled the scene and immediately awakened the farm owner, Huang Jung-ko (
Huang told reporters his employee said the creature was definitely a big tiger and that she could not believe Taiwan still had wild tigers.
Huang checked the pen and found that eight sheep had been slaughtered. Two others had been devoured, with only parts of their skeletons and some organs left.
This was a horrible bloodbath, Huang said.
Animal experts from Taipei Zoo and the Taipei County Government's Bureau of Agriculture examined the site on Friday and found a clear animal footprint.
Chang Chih-hua (張志華), chief veterinarian at Taipei Zoo's Animal Medical Center, told reporters yesterday that "the footprint belongs to a canine, not a feline, which means that the animal that attacked the sheep is likely a big dog."
Chang said that based on the tooth marks found on the carcasses, the animal has a wide mouth.
Referring to the witness' claim that the creature had roared at her, Chang said that tigers and leopards roar at human beings when they encounter them.
Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (
County officials said they hoped to catch the animal alive and were equipped with a cage, tranquillizer guns, blowpipes and flashlights.
At press time, the creature was still at large.
Residents nearby, meanwhile, were terrified.
A resident surnamed Huang told reporters the authorities had to find the animal or they would not venture outside their houses.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals, including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns. Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), prosecutors said. Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders. The recall campaign leaders, including Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃), Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths
RSS