Twenty-four dead water buffaloes have been found in Yangmingshan (陽明山) in the past few months, the Taipei City Animal Protection Office said yesterday, urging the public to stay away from buffaloes in the area.
In October, there were an estimated 80 wild water buffaloes in the mountain, but since then, there have been reports of the animals being found dead, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Keng Wei (耿葳) said on Friday.
Initially, the reports were confined to the area along the Qingtiangang (擎天崗) trail, but there have since been reports from the nearby Shihtiling (石梯嶺) area, Keng said.
Photo provided by the Taipei City Animal Protection Office via CNA
Investigators have not been able to keep up with the reports, she said, adding that she hopes the situation can become a higher priority of the government.
Shih Jui-ling (施瑞伶), head of the office’s investigation team, said the buffaloes’ bodies showed no obvious signs of disease, and although many of them were found with their necks arched backward, nothing conclusive could be determined until lab tests were conducted.
The office had already drawn blood, urine and fecal samples from 10 of the animals, and taken swabs from inside their mouths to send to the Animal Health Research Institute for testing, office director Yang Shu-fang (楊淑方) said.
The investigation team had also collected water and plant samples from areas where the buffaloes graze, to check for the possible presence of toxic substances, Yang said.
The public is advised to stay away from the area until investigations are complete, to avoid the possibility of contact with a disease that might spread to humans, she said.
The office has already contacted Yangmingshan National Park authorities to request that trails in the area be temporarily closed, cordoned off and thoroughly sanitized, she said.
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