A woman in Yilan County, whose dog found a baby Formosan rock macaque a month ago, took the monkey to the county’s Animal and Plant Disease Center for a health check on Tuesday, saying she wants to adopt it.
Lee Huai-chen (李懷珍) said she had already applied to the county’s Agriculture Department for permission to adopt the rock monkey, a species endemic to Taiwan.
Lee, a karaoke lounge owner in Suao (蘇澳), said her dog found it and carried it to her husband’s work shack in a hillside village in Yilan about a month ago.
Photo: CNA
The monkey appeared to be a newborn, about 20cm in height, she said, adding that its tiny head was covered in blood from several wounds when it was found.
Lee said she has been taking care of the baby monkey since then.
“I’ve changed diapers, fed it bottles of milk formula and put it to sleep next to my bed,” she said.
“We all call it Rockie,” because the little monkey falls asleep to the sound of rock music at the karaoke lounge and wakes up when the music stops, she said.
After learning that protected species might carry contagious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB), she decided to take it to the quarantine center for a health check, she said.
However, she said she is worried that if the monkey were found to have TB, it would be given “humanitarian treatment,” meaning euthanasia.
She is also worried her adoption application would not be accepted because of the wildlife protection law, she said.
The Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法) prohibits hunting, raising or breeding protected wildlife, unless under special circumstances stated in the act or related legislation.
Kuo Tzu-ming, a staff member at the department’s animal conservation affairs division, said Rockie had probably been abandoned by its mother.
Adoption of injured protected animals is rarely permitted, Kuo said. Most injured wild animals that are rescued are usually released into the wild after they recover, he said.
However, Lee’s application could be regarded as a special case, Kuo said.
Formosan rock macaques are born to live in groups, he said. If the monkey is released into the wild rather than raised as a pet, it may not be able to survive because monkey troops do not easily accept outsiders, he added.
He said Lee’s adoption application would require an evaluation of her home, as well as an assessment of her knowledge of the species and her willingness to raise the animal.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS