Exciting news: The Forestry Bureau captures rare footage of a leopard cat catching a mouse

▲ The rare sighting of a leopard cat has thrilled monitoring personnel. (Photo / Provided by the Hsinchu Forest District Office, Forestry Bureau)

Tourism Center / Comprehensive Report

Leopard cats, after years of field population studies in recent years, have been found only in small wild populations in the Taichung, Nantou, and Miaoli areas, with an estimated total of fewer than 500 individuals. They are now classified as an endangered protected species. Their habitats are under severe threat and shrinking due to development projects such as road construction. The Forestry Bureau has promoted leopard cat monitoring surveys for many years, and at the end of last month, for the first time, it captured footage of a leopard cat catching a Formosan white-bellied rat in a state-owned forest in Zhuolan Township, Miaoli County — an exciting development.

In recent years, the endangered leopard cat has garnered public attention. The Forestry Bureau has launched a leopard cat monitoring program to study the ecology of leopard cats in the Sanyi and Zhuolan regions. By installing infrared cameras for monitoring, at the end of June this year in a state-owned forest in Zhuolan, Miaoli,clear footage was recorded of an adult leopard cat, approximately two or three years old, catching a mouse. The process clearly shows the leopard cat’s agile movements, even playfully dangling and shaking the mouse — a very rare sight. This is the first time in Taiwan that such clear footage of a leopard cat catching prey has been recorded.

▲ The Formosan white-bellied rat is an important food source for leopard cats. (Photo / Provided by the Hsinchu Forest District Office, Forestry Bureau)

The monitoring footage reveals that the large rat is a Formosan white-bellied rat, a type of rodent commonly found in Taiwan’s low-altitude forest environments and also the prey most frequently hunted by leopard cats — an important food source for them. Field survey data show that the feces of leopard cats often contain the spines of Formosan white-bellied rats.In the past, residents often regarded leopard cats as pests that stole poultry and thus did not welcome them. Little did they know that leopard cats help humans by preying on more rodents, protecting crops from serious rodent damage.。

Unlike other medium to large-sized protected animals, leopard cats prefer to inhabit forests near human farming areas. Survey data indicate that Miaoli is home to the largest population of leopard cats, as its diverse environment offers their favorite prey — including rodents, birds, hares, snakes, and lizards. However, human activity in these environments, including development and pesticide use, poses environmental threats, leading to a continuous decline in the leopard cat population. Protecting the habitat of leopard cats has become an important issue today.

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