The Macau Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) is still looking for a suitable place for a prairie dog found abandoned in Taipa in January before it can meet the public, IAM information officer Pong Sio Wan has told The Macau Post Daily.
The bureau said in a statement last month that one of two prairie dogs, which was found abandoned in the public Reservoir Park in March, had died of heart failure, while the other one, which was found abandoned by a resident in Taipa before the Chinese New Year in January, is in good condition and being looked after by the bureau’s veterinary team. The bureau suspects that the two rodents were smuggled into Macau as it’s illegal to import the species, and that they were later abandoned by their owner.
Pong told The Macau Post Daily on Wednesday that the prairie dog is in good health and the bureau would announce when a suitable place for its future home has been decided.Prairie dogs are herbivorous burrowing rodents native to the grasslands of North America.
Despite the name, they are not canines but rodents of the genus Cynomys. Prairie dogs are named for their habitat and warning call, which sounds similar to a dog’s bark. Prairie dogs are smaller than marmots.
The handout photo downloaded from the website of the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) in March shows one of the two abandoned prairie dogs rescued by IAM officials. One of the rodents has meanwhile died.
