The body of a Formosan black bear was found in the shallows of Hualien County’s Lakulaku River (拉庫拉庫溪) on Thursday. A preliminary autopsy suggests that the bear was dead before its body entered the water, authorities said.
The body was found by Nanan Village (南安) Warden Lai Chin-te (賴金德), who said he saw the body downstream of the Nanan waterfalls.
Lai said that because of high-running water he could see only part of the bear’s body and initially thought it was driftwood. It was not until the next morning that he saw the bear’s body when waters had receded.
Photo courtesy of Lin Chia-yang
Lai said at first he thought it was a dead boar, but after seeing the bear’s paws he immediately notified the Forestry Agency and Township Office.
The Hualien County Fire Department pulled the body from the river using a rubber raft.
Lai said it was sad that the first bear he ever saw was a dead one.
The agency’s veterinarian said that the bear was an adult and was largely unharmed, adding that the body had been sent to the Pingtung University of Science and Technology for an autopsy.
Preliminary autopsy results on Friday showed that the bear was an adult female Formosan black bear weighing 57kg and 1.45m in height. It is suspected the bear had given birth at least once, as its nipples showed signs of suckling.
The bear’s left front paw was missing, and the fifth digit on its right front paw was broken, suggesting that the bear had stepped onto traps at least twice, the university said, adding that both wounds were old, were not fatal and had been ruled out as a cause of death.
A possible cause of death could be related to bruising found on the crown of the bear’s head, the university said.
The bear was about 10 years old with good teeth, the university said.
It was suspected that the bear might have drowned, but the bear had undigested food in its stomach and no residual water in its lungs, according to the university’s Institute of Wildlife Conservation director Hwang Mei-hsu (黃美秀).
A precise cause of death is unlikely to be known for at least three to four days, as not all test results have been returned, Hwang said.
Earlier last month, another Formosan black bear was found dead.
The bear, named Kaying, had a tracker implanted by Hwang’s research team.
First seen on Aug. 4 in the Batongguan Historic Trail (八通關古道) area in Hualien by an Amis man named Lin Chia-yang (林家洋) who was doing repairs on the trail, Kaying was reported to be “limping and looking weak.”
The team found the bear in an overhang, about 30m under the trail. Lin offered to get closer to Kaying and took a photograph of the bear. He fed it a small jar of honey and some water.
On Aug. 13, the Yushan National Park Office reported that there was a dead Formosan black bear, and the research team later confirmed that it was Kaying.
Researchers have used the corpse as a bone model.
Formosan black bears are the nation’s only endemic bears and are listed as a first-class priority conservation species by law.
The Yushan National Park Office estimates that about 100 bears live in the park.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as