A specialist employed by the city of Taoyuan’s Department of Agriculture, who had allegedly told a hunter to shoot an escaped baboon in March, was indicted by prosecutors on Friday, despite the hunter not being charged.
According to the indictment, the prosecutors said that the local government employee, surnamed Hsu (徐), had taken part in the operation to capture the baboon, which had escaped from a zoo in Hsinchu’s Leofoo Village in March.
Prosecutors said that Hsu told the government-contracted hunter, surnamed Lin (林), he could kill the baboon without official approval, and that this violated regulations on hunting and killing protected wildlife, which Hsu should have known.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
Prosecutors added that during questioning, Hsu said the situation had been an emergency, but denied that he had given the OK for the hunter to fire. He added that he did not know whether the hunter was using live rounds.
However, prosecutors said evidence showed that before Hsu gave the order, the baboon ate nothing but fruit and vegetables, and did not pose a threat to the public.
In addition, a shotgun is very different in appearance from a tranquilizer gun, prosecutors said.
They added that Hsu had also earlier told Lin to shoot the baboon as soon as he spotted it, leading Lin to assume that this was an authorized protocol.
Therefore, the prosecutors decided to charge Hsu with the offense of killing or hunting a protected wildlife species.
However, according to the indictment, Lin was not charged because he shot the baboon after Hsu had given approval, and was unfamiliar with the team or other personnel at the scene.
A Leofoo Village zookeeper, surnamed Huang (黃), was also not charged, as prosecutors were unable to ascertain whether he had told Lin to shoot the baboon.
The Taoyuan Department of Agriculture said that Hsu has been transferred to a different government agency and that it would cooperate with any further investigations if needed.
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