A Hualien County farmer on Tuesday lost a water buffalo to an attack by hornets in Ruisui Township (瑞穗).
The farmer, surnamed Tien (田), a resident of the Amis Aboriginal Cimei Village (奇美), said he had raised the four-year-old, 500kg buffalo since it was a calf.
He said he had brought his five buffaloes to graze near a local road at about 7am, tying them to trees at 10m intervals. He returned home and then drove past about 10 minutes later on his scooter, only to see one of the buffaloes on the ground.
As Tien approached, he said he saw “a huge swarm” of hornets hovering above and near the animal, so he turned around and returned to the village store to buy two cans of insecticide.
He was so focused on saving the buffalo that he returned to the scene in less than three minutes, and began spraying the insecticide without stopping to put on protective clothing, Tien said.
Another resident, Cheng Chih-kuei (鄭志貴), said he was driving by in his pickup when he saw Tien and stopped to offer help.
“He had a can of insecticide in his hand, and he was spraying at the sky, at himself and at the water buffalo,” Cheng said.
Aided by two more villagers, they tried to drive the swarm away with insecticide, but hornet stings slowly drove them away from the downed buffalo, with Tien being the last to retreat after emptying both spray cans, Cheng said.
The farmers waited at a safe distance for more than 10 minutes for the swarm to dissipate before they were able to reach the buffalo, which they led back to Tien’s residence.
The group tried to wash the buffalo with saltwater, but the animal stood up, walked about 10m and then dropped dead, Cheng said, describing the sight as “heart-wrenching.”
The buffalo had been stung at least 100 times, Tien said.
Cheng said he regularly cut grass in the area, and he could have been attacked by the hornets instead of the buffalo.
“That water buffalo saved lives in the village by dying. Everyone uses that road, but no one had seen the hive,” he said.
Villagers removed the hive later in the day, he said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it