Sun, Dec 20, 2020 page3

• Water buffaloes found dead in Yangmingshan park

  MYSTERIOUS DEATHS: Investigators are gathering samples from the animals, as well as from water and plants in the area, to determine a cause of death, they said

  • By William Hetherington / Staff writer, with CNA
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  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.

  

  Taipei City Animal Protection Office staff yesterday disinfect an area in the Qingtiangang grassland of Yangmingshan National Park in Taipei where wild water buffalo have been found dead.

  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.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Alcaraz, Sinner win their Roland Garros openers

  • 2

    PSG crush Inter to win trophy

  • 3

    Alcaraz struggles to 4th round in Paris

  • 4

    Blackpink to hold concert in Kaohsiung

  • 5

    Panthers secure return to Stanley Cup Finals