A leopard cat found last month in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館) is recovering from injuries and dehydration, the Miaoli County Unique Animals Preservation Association said yesterday.
The leopard cat is an indigenous wild cat that is endangered and protected. According to research by National Pingtung University’s Institute of Wildlife Conservation, there are fewer than 1,000 in the country.
Called leopard cats because of their leopard-like spots, the animals are marked with twin white stripes across the forehead and are slightly larger than domestic cats, but have long thick tails and are nocturnal carnivores.
Photo: Ho Tsung-han, Taipei Times
The association said it found the leopard cat on Cianshan (淺山) in Gongguan with its right front leg caught in a trap. Association director Lin Ching-chi (林清棋) alerted the county’s Agriculture Department and sent the leopard cat to a veterinarian.
The mating season for leopard cats is from December to April, and the routes the cats take tend to follow the paths of their prey and are unpredictable, Lin said, adding that the leopard cat the association found could have been caught in the trap for as long as eight days.
There were maggots in its wounds and the cat was lucky that it rained recently or it would have died of dehydration, Lin said. After the veterinarian amputated the limb and injected the cat with nutrients, it gradually regained its health, he added.
Meanwhile, the county’s Agriculture Department yesterday reminded the public that if they found leopard cats preying on domestic animals, they should not attempt to capture or kill them, but contact the local fire station.
Capturing or selling leopard cats is against the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法) and is punishable with a prison sentence of six months to five years, along with a fine of NT$200,000 to NT$1 million, the department said.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the