The Macau Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) said today that one of two prairie dogs found abandoned in March earlier this year has died of heart failure.
An IAM statement that the other prairie dog is in good condition and being looked after by the bureau's veterinary team.
The statement did not say when the animal died. As The Macau Post Daily reported, both animals were found separately at two different locations, one on the peninsula and the other in Taipa, in March and in January respectively. IAM officials said at that time they believed that both had been smuggled into Macau and that they were later abandoned by their owner.
Prairie dogs are herbivorous burrowing rodents native to the grasslands of Northern America. They are a type of ground squirrel.
The statement pointed out that after the rodents had been taken into quarantine at the bureau's kennels one of them was diagnosed with a string of infections caused by ectoparasites, serious skin diseases and anaemia, apart from being underweight. The statement said that the animal died "suddenly", adding that a necropsy showed that it had died of heart failure due to a heart condition. The statement stressed that the animal did not suffer from any contagious diseases.
Based on Executive Order 335/2016, it is illegal to buy, own, breed and import squirrels in Macau. The statement said the bureau suspected that both rodents were illegally imported and later abandoned.
As reported by The Macau Post Daily, IAM President Jose Tavares told reporters in March that the bureau was considering putting the two animals in a park so that the public can see the rodents.
