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Interview

• ▼Teacher Luo
• ▼Former village chief
• ▼Chief of Zhulin Village
• ▼County councilor

Teacher Luo

Teacher Luo is a retired military officer, familiar with field activities and knowledge, and also has considerable research on ecology.Because the number of leopard cats killed by cars in Changhua in 2023 was twice that of 2022, he and Changhua County Councilor Yang held a press conference to call on all walks of life to pay attention to the conservation of leopard cats. He is committed to investigating the ecology of leopard cats and is also an expert we need to consult when studying leopard cats.

Approximately when were the chickens and ducks found bitten to death? What was the situation? How do you know they were bitten to death?

Around 2022, because we didn't know it was bitten by a leopard cat at the time. At first we thought it was a dog biting the chicken, but generally speaking, dogs will not eat chickens. Dogs will bite the chickens directly. Later, when we saw the leopard cat, we realized that it was the leopard cat biting the chicken. We saw the leopard cat.

I would like to ask the village chief, have you ever seen any leopard cat come to eat chicken or duck?

Some people say that the chicken was bitten to death by a cat, but I don’t think it was a cat. Cats only eat small chickens and ducks. Usually when a leopard cat comes, it will take the chickens away, and the big chicken will eat half of the other ones on the spot. Half of it is taken away, because the leopard cat cannot jump up the fence with the big chicken, so it will eat some first and then take the remaining part to another place to continue eating.。 One time I went out and saw leopard cat chewing half a chicken on the wall. That was the first time I saw it with my own eyes.

Can you describe to us the situation in leopard cat at that time?

Leopard cat was about to leave at that time. leopard cat was very alert and must have heard me opening the door to come out, so he was preparing to escape. At that time, he was still biting half of the chicken. When he faced me, I saw two white lines on the side of leopard cat's nose, and then there were markings on his body.

Did the nearby residents also have their chickens and ducks eaten?

My aunt lives next door, and last year alone more than 10 of the chickens she raised were bitten to death. Residents near the Zhulin bridge also had chickens bitten to death, but the number is unclear.

How do you feel when you find that chickens and ducks are eaten by leopard cats? Do you want to kill or capture leopard cats?

We feel very sad. The chickens we raised from chicks to such a big one were suddenly bitten to death. Last year alone, more than 30 chickens and ducks were bitten. No (I can’t catch leopard cats), it is a conservation species. The night camera you installed will only come out to eat at night when it is nocturnal. If one bites it, one will kill it. You see there are two white stripes on this ear. The stripes are different. There is a chicken here at the foot. It was bitten to death and dragged from there to here. We just don’t know where their habitat is now. You have installed night photography on the routes in and out of the leopard cats. In this photo, you can see a leopard cat that is bigger than a cat.

Have the nearby residents reported this to you?

At present, there is also an invasion of leopard cats near the Zhulin Bridge in our Zhulin Village. When I was patrolling in the past, a villager reported that his chickens were also fenced. Of course, there was no way to fence all of his roofs. Many chickens died and were taken away. Instead of catching them all at once, she only catches one at a time. If there is a possibility of giving birth to a baby leopard cat, she will come out every day because she needs to supplement her nutrition.

Someone keeps a dog nearby. Will the owner let the dog out? Will they bite the leopard cat?

There are relatively few wild dogs here at present, and leopard cat is afraid of the whole group of wild dogs, because those wild dogs will bite him. If it is a dog raised in someone's home, they will be scared when they see a leopard cat.

If you can avoid harming leopard cats, what do you want the government to do to protect your chickens and ducks?

At present, in Changhua County, Councilor Yang is seeking subsidies. The key point is that they also need to check whether the chickens are eaten on site and then call the government to discuss the situation. At present, the subsidy funds have not been released, and they are planning to obtain subsidies.

The village chief also told us that there are fires every year in the mountainous cemetery behind. We are curious why? The village chief said that during the annual tomb sweeping period (Taiwanese people go to the graves of deceased relatives to worship in March and April), some people want to get rid of the weeds next to the graves. They used burning methods to cause fires on the mountains. We are very worried that the leopard cat's habitat will be destroyed as a result, and we are also worried that the little leopard cat will not have time to escape and be killed.

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