A necropsy of a female Formosan black bear found dead last month near a mountain village in Hualien County indicates it had most likely fallen from a cliff and was unable to defend itself from attacks by other wildlife, which led to its death.
No bullet wound was found, nor was there any other trace of bullets, said Forestry Bureau Hualien Forest District Office head Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬), who presented a report on the bear on Thursday, discounting rumors that it might have been shot by poachers or local villagers.
Blood tests also ruled out rabies, canine distemper, canine parvovirosis, canine adenovirus Type I, coronavirus, influenza A and other common viral infections, the report said.
The bear’s carcass was found on March 17 near a chicken coop outside the Lamuan Community, a Bunun village in Jhuosi Township (卓溪), with its lower abdomen torn open and some internal organs missing.
The carcass was transferred to the Animal Health Research Institute in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) for examination.
The necropsy found that the carcass had signs of a fall, severe internal bleeding, a laceration on the right chest and gnaw marks on the lower body, Yang said.
A Forest Bureau team also conducted a field inspection, which found that the ground under a nearby cliff showed traces of debris having rolled down from above, Yang said.
During its fall, the bear likely suffered a blow to its chest, given the laceration and internal bleeding, and was likely in a weakened or unconscious state when other animals discovered it and began to gnaw on it, which led to the bear’s death, Yang said.
Black bear expert Huang Mei-hsiu (黃美秀), who was contacted after the bear was found, thought that the bear might have been lactating and urged bureau officials to search for a cub.
However, the institute’s report said that there were no signs that the bear was lactating and it was not pregnant at the time of death, Yang said.
Forestry Bureau officers and Lamuan villagers stepped up patrols in the area and set up motion-trigger cameras to check for a cub, but no sign was found.
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