Aging Green Island water buffalo finds new home in Yunlin

Taipei, Aug. 9 (CNA) After spending much of her 22 years plowing fields on Green Island off eastern Taiwan, an aging water buffalo has been given a chance to rest at a retirement center in Yunlin County after being bought and relocated by an animal lover.

The buffalo, now named "White Dolphin," arrived at the privately run center in Tuku Township on Aug. 6 after a 17-hour journey by sea and road, center founder Lin Chia-liang (林家良) told CNA in a phone interview Sunday.

Despite the lengthy trip, during which sea conditions were affected by Typhoon Dolphin -- which inspired her name -- the buffalo remains in good health and suffered only mild sunburn, Lin said.

"Her condition is OK," he said, adding that water buffalo can live for around 30 years and White Dolphin, who has given birth three times, is already considered elderly.

Since arriving, she quickly settled into her new surroundings, bathing and playing in muddy water and getting along well with the center's other buffalo, according to videos posted on the center's Facebook page.

A second encounter, a new life

The relocation was arranged by a woman surnamed Chen (陳), who first encountered White Dolphin about a decade ago while visiting Green Island as a volunteer in a dog and cat neutering program.

When Chen returned years later and saw the same buffalo still plowing fields used to grow sweet potatoes and peanuts, she decided to buy her and arrange for her to spend her remaining years at the Yunlin center, Lin said.

White Dolphin was still healthy and capable of farm work before the move. Had Chen not bought her, she could have been resold by the cattle dealer who owned her and worked elsewhere, Lin added.

Chen paid NT$25,000 (US$776) for White Dolphin and covered all relocation costs, bringing her total spending to nearly NT$50,000, according to Lin.

A place for aging buffalo

The center will now take responsibility for her long-term care, with basic expenses averaging around NT$3,000 per buffalo each month.

The facility relies mainly on small donations, with Lin covering any shortfall through income from rice he grows and soy sauce made from black beans.

"If [the donations] are not enough, I use the money I make from selling soy sauce or rice to support them," he said.

Lin began rescuing aging water buffalo in 2019 and formally established the center in 2022. It has taken in six buffalo so far, two of which have since died, leaving four currently living there.

Once a buffalo has adjusted to the center, its nose ring -- traditionally used to control the animal during farm work -- is removed as part of what Lin described as a "more humane" approach to caring for the animals.

For Lin, removing the rings symbolizes allowing buffaloes that spent years working for people to leave that life behind.

Many working buffalo "have no names," he said, but once they arrive at the center, "they can spend the rest of their lives here without having to work as hard as they did before, plowing fields and doing farm work."

Honoring longtime partners

Lin said one of his main motivations for establishing the center was to address the aging of both farmers and their water buffalo in Taiwan's rural communities, while recognizing the animals' contribution to agriculture before mechanization.

Although machines have largely taken over their work, Taiwan's farming communities once depended heavily on water buffalo, he said.

"We are very grateful to them," Lin said.