The Kaohsiung Harbor Police Department yesterday at the harbor seized 50 smuggled long-tailed chinchillas valued at NT$7.5 million (US$253,970).
The rodents, each worth NT$150,000 on the pet market, were seized after police officers Pan Shih-ying (潘詩盈) and Shen Ya-chin (沈雅欽) found them in a minivan at a harbor checkpoint, the department said.
The minivan’s driver, surnamed Yang (楊), appeared nervous and the officers heard animal noises coming from the back seat, prompting them to search the vehicle, the department said.
Photo copied by Hung Ting-hung, Taipei Times
The animals were likely smuggled from China, it said, adding that it was the largest number of illegally imported chinchillas the department has ever seized.
The department said it would hand over Yang, who has been detained, to prosecutors over contraventions of the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保護法) and the Act for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Disease (動物傳染病防治條例).
While chinchillas bred in captivity are not considered endangered animals in Taiwan, they must be checked for diseases by the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine before they can be legally imported, according to the Forestry Bureau.
Chinchillas are native to the Andes mountains in South America, and live in rock crevices and caves at high elevations, the Taipei City Animal Protection Office said.
The rodents need extensive care, as their food has to be carefully selected and the temperature of their environment needs to be controlled, the office said.
Chinchillas are adapted to living in temperatures of 16°C to 18°C and have thick fur covering their entire body, and could die of heatstroke or heat exhaustion at higher temperatures, it said.
They can jump as high as 1.8m, so owners shold provide them with plenty of space, the office added.
Chinchillas have gained popularity in Taiwan in the past few years due to their docile disposition and appearance, which people liken to Totoro, the titular character from Hayao Miyazaki’s 1988 animation My Neighbor Totoro.
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