Two leopard cat kittens that apparently strayed from their mother were rescued by a local resident in Miaoli County on Monday, the county’s Animal Care and Health Office said on Tuesday.
The animals were found in a roadside gutter of a mountainous road in Gongguan Township at about 10am by a local resident, said Chang Wei (張葦), who heads the office.
The person, who called in to the office at about noon, claimed that he found two leopard cats while driving along Township Road No. 26-2 after stopping to see why a stray dog was barking aggressively, Chang said.
Photo: Chang Hsun-sheng, Taipei Times
At first he thought they were just domestic cats, she said, recounting her conversation with the man.
However, he realized their ears were more rounded than those of typical cats and was soon convinced they were wild leopard cats, she added.
The rescued kittens were taken to the office for a health checkup.
The leopard cats, a male and female, were roughly three to four weeks old and weighed 376g and 404g respectively, Chang said. They were later transported to the Endemic Species Research Institute in Nantou County to be prepared for release into the wild.
It was the first time in recent years that leopard cats have been spotted in the Gongguan area, she said.
The kittens had become separated from their mother, and office staff returned to the rescue site on Monday to search for her, but did not find anything, Chang said.
According to the Leopard Cat Association of Taiwan, the nation’s population of leopard cats — the only cat living in the wild — is thought to be about 500 nationwide.
Leopard cats are roughly the size of house cats with tawny black-spotted pelts, and they thrive in Taiwan’s lower elevations of about 500m.
According to the Miaoli Animal Care and Health Office, 19 leopard cats have been killed on the roads outside Gongguan Township this year.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS