Taipei Zoo officials were overjoyed yesterday after a mother anteater that had escaped more than three months ago was found on Sunday by two hikers near a mountain trail in New Taipei City’s Shenkeng District (深坑).
The mother anteater, called “Hsiao Hung” (小紅, “little red”), arrived in Taiwan in August 2018 and was housed in the zoo’s Tropical Rainforest section. She gave birth to a pup in May.
Zoo spokesman Eric Tsao (曹先紹) said that when an electronic scan identified that it was indeed Hsiao Hung, some of the staff were teary and overcome with emotions, as they were afraid she would not have been able to survive in the wild.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Zoo
Tsao joked that the zoo might have to change her name to “Rambo,” as she was found about 3km to 4km from the zoo in a forest with ravines, gullies and steep slopes, but still managed to find food and avoid being attacked by feral dogs and other predators.
After escaping from her enclosure on Sept. 1, the zoo had mounted searches for Hsiao Hung, including setting cage traps with food to lure her back, and posting notices and pictures on social media in a public appeal for help to find her.
After three months with no news of Hsiao Hung, zoo staffers thought there was little chance she would have survived.
When asked about Hsiao Hung during a question-and-answer session at the Taipei City Council last week to discuss the zoo’s budget, Tsao said: “This species of anteater is not indigenous to Taiwan, and the weather is turning cold. She needs a place with warm temperatures. She might also be exposed to attacks by wild predators, so we believe she might not be able to survive in the wild.”
However, on Sunday afternoon, two hikers, surnamed Chiang (江) and Hsu (許), saw a strange animal and took photographs of it, which were passed on to the zoo.
Officials immediately gathered a rescue team of 36, including zoo staff, animal rescue specialists and local residents familiar with the mountain trails.
After searching for more than an hour, they found Hsiao Hung sleeping inside the hollow of a tree.
The mother anteater was in pretty good shape, although she had scratches and other minor wounds, and showed signs of dehydration and malnutrition, having lost about 1kg since September, Tsao said.
Her wounds are being treated, and she is being fed her favorite food to hasten her recovery, he said.
It would take at least a month of recuperation and a health assessment before the public can see her again at the zoo, Tsao added.
The zoo has had other animals that had escaped in the past, mostly Formosan serows, gibbons and chimpanzees, he said.
Gibbons and chimpanzees have sometimes escaped by swinging from overgrown trees, but the simians are social animals and family-oriented, so they soon climb back to join their group, he said.
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS