Yushan National Park Headquarters is asking park visitors not to bring their pets and keep their distance from wild animals after a deceased ferret badger tested positive for rabies.
The animal was found in the park’s Tataka (塔塔加) area, the headquarters said yesterday in a news release.
Considering the popularity of Tataka, which draws nearly 700,000 visitors every year, people with pets would be banned as a preventive measure, it said.
Photo: CNA
The ban applies to the national park, including protected areas in Hualien County’s Yuli (玉里) and Jhuosi (卓溪) townships, and Kaohsiung’s Taoyuan District (桃源).
Hikers should also keep their distance from wildlife and immediately move away from any animals that appear agitated, it added.
Visitors who find dead animals in the park should immediately inform the Shueili Visitor Center or other nearby visitors’ centers, park officials said.
People who get bitten or scratched by a wild animal should clean the wound with soap, rinse it for 15 minutes, and disinfect the affected area with iodine or alcohol before contacting a healthcare provider for a rabies shot, they said.
On Tuesday last week, a Pingtung County resident was bitten by another ferret badger that later tested positive for the disease. It was the 11th rabies infection in Shihzih Township (獅子) since 2013.
The disease has thus far in Taiwan only been identified in ferret badgers and gem-faced civets, but experts are concerned that it could spread to other species.
To reduce the risk, they advise people to keep their distance from wild animals, keep pets indoors, and have dogs, cats and other carnivorous pets annually vaccinated against the disease.
The Pingtung County Animal Disease Control Center is on Thursday next week to offer rabies vaccinations for dogs and cats of at least three months old at the community center in Danlu Village (丹路).
Information on the initiative is available on the center’s Web site.
People who do not have their pets vaccinated annually against rabies would face fines of up to NT$150,000, as stipulated in the Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases (動物傳染病防治條例), the center added.
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