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.
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