A retiring farmer in Yunlin County on Friday drove his 12-year-old water buffalo to an animal sanctuary, sparing his long-time farming partner from the slaughterhouse.
Huang Sung-yung (黃松勇), the owner of the last water buffalo in Huwei Township (虎尾), retired after about 50 years working the fields using traditional draft animals.
With water buffalo having served him so well over the past half-century, Huang, 74, said that his final farming partner had earned a well-deserved retirement, so he began looking for an animal sanctuary for her to live out the rest of her days.
Photo: Lin Min-chen, Taipei Times
With the help of the Huwei Township Office and Beisi Village (北溪) Warden Chen Chun-chi (陳俊旗), Huang found a water buffalo sanctuary in nearby Tuku Township (土庫).
Water buffalo were once ubiquitous on Taiwan’s farms, with the nation having 329,928 of the animals in 1956, but their numbers have dwindled with mechanization.
In 2021, only 199 were left, Ministry of Agriculture data showed.
Animals replaced by machines were once almost certainly destined for the slaughterhouse, but several water buffalo sanctuaries, run privately or by local authorities, have been established over the past few years, offering a more humane retirement option.
Huang’s buffalo is to share the sanctuary with two other residents — nine-year-old An Hsin (安心) and 14-year-old A Le (阿樂).
Lin Chia-liang (林佳良) said he set up the sanctuary on his family farm last year.
Water buffalo made a huge contribution to agriculture in Taiwan and deserve to spend the rest of their lives in a comfortable environment, Lin said.
The animals at the shelter have a large field where they can wander, and eat grass and corn stalks, Lin said, adding that he dug a pond for them to cool off in when the temperature rises.
Former owners of the water buffalo are always welcome to visit and the shelter is also open to visitors, who can feed the animals, he said.
Lin said he also grows and sells rice to cover the cost of taking care of the retired water buffalo.
He said that the new resident would be tethered for a while for safety purposes and the ropes would be removed after one or two months when she gets used to her new home.
Patting his former farming partner on the back, Huang left his water buffalo with a few words of encouragement.
“You won’t be alone here. Go and enjoy your retirement,” he said.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
RSS