In January 2021, the Miaoli County government built a special tunnel for leopard cats, an endangered species, so they could cross over a river safely. More than a year later, the first sighting of a leopard cat using the passageway was finally caught on camera.
Through a surveillance camera, a leopard cat was seen climbing onto the guardrail before walking through the tunnel to get to the other side of a river in Miaoli. The agriculture department said their office built the tunnel to prevent leopard cats from crossing the road and being hit by cars. It said that the near extinct wild cat is very discreet by nature, and it wasn’t until March this year that the camera caught the very first one to use the tunnel.
Agriculture official Chang Wei said that before the sighting of the first leopard cat, only ferret-badgers, civets and house cats have been seen crossing the tunnel. She said her office will not only work to improve the tunnel itself but also install more railings at the entrance. Chang said that’s to prevent wild dogs from attacking the leopard cats. She said hopefully more leopard cats will use the tunnel that was built just for them.