Today (3rd), Taichung City Government has signed the 「Cross over Memorandum of Conservation Collaborations of Leopard cats」with Miaoli County Government after setting the first Leopard cats conservation self-governance articles domestically to have further step on collaborations and resources sharing of research and investigations. Then the ecological immigration pathway of Leopard cats along the Daan river across Taichung and Miaoli will be conserved and the living environment of Leopard cats will be secured thoroughly. Mayor Chia-lung Lin said, the habitat of Leopard cats is across the area between Daan river and Dajia river, we hope the ecological pathway of Leopard cats will be free of restriction for survival forever with the collaboration memo signed by two city and county. The collaborations with Changhua and Nantou will be aimed to conserve the Leopard cats and make it become the acts of production, ecology and living.

Mayor Lin was leaving for Miaoli County Government with Director of Agriculture Bureau, Jung-hsiung Wang, Secretary General of Information Bureau, Shen-sheng Lin etc. today. There were the show performances of Taichung World Flora Expo mascots, 「Father Cat」and「Mother Cat」from Leopard cat family and of Miaoli County mascot, Miaolimeow there. Mayor Lin, as the representative of the City Government, signed the memorandum of collaborations with Mayor of Miaoli County Yao-chang Hsu to declare they will collaborate closely and aggressively to conserve the habitat of Leopard cats on both sides of Daan river with required measures of conservation. Then the Leopard cats will have a way to home safely. Deputy Director General of Forest Bureau, Executive Yuan, Yi-guang Liao, Confidential Secretary of Changhua County, Jin-jer Chen and Director of Agriculture Department, Rui-chin Chen witnessed the proceeding of the meeting.

Mayor Lin said, the Leopard cats memorandum of conservation collaborations signed by Taichung City and Miaoli County is very meaningful. The memo reflects the City Government is determined to take real actions to implement the「Taichung City Leopard cat conservation self-governance articles」by the regional management in addition to set the policy. The habitat of Leopard cats cannot be divided simply by the borderline between cities. Just like Taichung, Miaoli County Government has worked hard for the conservation of Leopard cats as well. With the collaborations this time for experience sharing and exchanging, a friendly environment for Leopard cats to inhabit safely will be developed and a better shared environment for people and Leopard cats will be expected.

Mayor Lin indicated, the over development of land in Taiwan in the past has caused the natural ecosystem destroyed. Now with the conservative approaches for Leopard cats implemented, all the ecology, production and living will continue to develop forever. We believe the development of human beings can be balanced with the conservation of Leopard cats to achieve the win-win situation. As the Word Flora Expo will be held in Taichung City, the Agriculture Expo of Central Taiwan will be conducted in Miaoli County as well. Through these comprehensive activities combined with the idea about the conservation of Leopard cats and a series of mascots related interactions, the people in Taiwan will learn more about Leopard cats so the concept of conservation of Leopard cats can be deep rooted in people’s mind.

Miaoli County Mayor Yao-chang Hsu said, Miaoli County and Taichung City have the same objective to keep Leopard cat species sustaining and continuing to reproduce forever. Habitats of Leopard cats are everywhere around Miaoli, Taichung, Changhua and Nantou, we hope to provide the cats with some good habitats through the conservation project and such a collaborative memorandum is expected to expand to Changhua and Nantou in the future to encourage more cities or counties to get involved in this meaningful action.

Mayor Hsu mentioned again, conservation of the critically endangered animals is not just relying on multiple approaches of management, it will need to take care of the perceptions of people and let people live with the Leopard cats peacefully under a friendly built environment. Everyone should take the responsibility to protect the vulnerable diminishing species.

Deputy Director General of Forest Bureau, Executive Yuan, Yi-guang Liao has highly appreciated Mayor Lin and Mayor Hsu since both of them value the ecological conservation of Leopard cats very much. Leopard cats conservation self-governance articles proposed by Taichung City and Miaoli County are highly recognized and the very advanced cross over collaborations on protection of Leopard cats are definitely the model of conservation. We expect there will be more local governments to work with us, let the central government and local governments protect all the conservative species and maintain their habitats together.

The officer of Agriculture Bureau said, Leopard cats are the only one Taiwan originated cat family left. They are estimated less than 500 in total numbers. So far, the Leopard cats are only found in the central Taiwan, including Taichung, Miaoli, Nantou and Changhua etc. and there are more than others in Miaoli County.

Taichung City Government and Miaoli County Government have signed the「Cross over Memorandum of Conservation Collaborations of Leopard cats」so they will collaborate closely in the future and share the resources of researches and inspections. The training courses and workshops for the ecological conservation of Leopard cats will be held to protect and construct the ecological immigrating pathway along the Daan river between Taichung Miaoli for Leopard cats to secure the living environment of Leopard cats thoroughly.

Besides,「Taichung City Leopard cats conservation self-governance articles」is about to being announced to implement after the review and approval of City Council. In addition to apply the universal conversation of Leopard cats, the collaborations with Miaoli County Government will be expanded to achieve the goal of habitat conservation and Leopard cat population stabilization.

The officer of Agriculture Bureau said, Taichung City will collaborate with National Chung Hsing University to conduct the forum of Leopard cat conservation; also, we will initiate the training courses for Leopard cat conservation with Leopard cat Association of Taiwan to educate the general public about the concept of conservation. The people from Taichung, Miaoli, Nantou and Changhua will be invited to participate in the related activities.