TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A ceremony on Tuesday (April 9) by the Indigenous Atayal tribe in Taichung celebrated the release of a Formosan black bear caught by a lasso trap in December 2023.

Members of Songmao Tribal Village were the first to discover the trapped bear, initiating a 17-hour rescue that involved the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency and Endemic Species Research Institute. The combined efforts of tribal members and government agencies allowed the adult female bear to be transported down the mountain for emergency veterinary care.

The trap injured the bear’s right forepaw which would later require amputation. After four months of intensive medical care, the bear’s wounds healed, per UDN.

During the bear’s rehabilitation, an elder in the Songmao Tribal Village named the bear "Lisayung,” a gentle and graceful female name in the Atayal language. The tribal elder also blessed the bear and hoped it could return to its natural environment and produce future generations of Formosan black bears.

Before the bear's release, the Forestry and Nature Agency discovered the bear’s neck was larger than her head, something atypical of Formosan black bears. More importantly, this would make it difficult to attach a collar-type satellite transmitter. 

With no way of tracking the bear via satellite collar, it was later decided to set up infrared cameras in the bear’s future habitat, potentially catching a glimpse of it after its release.

Moments before the bear’s release, a special blessing was chanted in the Atayal language by members of the tribal village. When the cage opened, the bear scampered into the safety of the mountains and forest, fulfilling people's wish that the bear could spend the rest of its life in nature.