Recently, Orchid Island residents have been photographing green sea turtles (scientific name: Chelonia mydas) being bitten by stray dogs at Badaiwan (八代灣). A piece of each turtle's flipper was clearly bitten off. Residents told the Environmental Information Center that incidents of stray dogs attacking sea turtles and eating their eggs occur frequently. Nearby residents are accustomed to feeding the strays, but due to the county government's animal protection unit's inability to capture, neuter, or impound the dogs (and insufficient staffing at the township office) the problem persists year after year and is ultimately left unresolved.
The Ocean Conservation Administration (OCA) responded that it had received the report and asserted that among all the sea turtle nesting habitats in Taiwan, Orchid Island had the most serious cases of dog harassment. The island will work with local government organizations to deal with their stray dog problem.
Orchid Island strays attack turtles for several consecutive days.
The person who took the video, Shi Han Hao(施翰豪), is a member of the Iratay Tribal Community Development Association (漁人社區發展協會) in Orchid Island Township, Taitung County. At the time, he was carrying out the "Protecting the Orchid Blue Coastline—2026 Iratay Tribe Coast (Green Sea Turtle) Conservation and Patrol Project (守護蘭色海岸線—2026年漁人部落海岸(綠蠵龜)保育巡守計畫)," which was guided by the OCA. During his 8 p.m. beach patrol, he discovered a stray dog barking at a female sea turtle about to come ashore to lay eggs in Da Badai. The female sea turtle turned away and returned to the sea.
At 10:30 p.m., when Shi passed by Dabadai again, he heard dogs barking again and immediately ran over to check. He found three dogs attacking a female turtle that was trying to lay its eggs in the intertidal zone. The female turtle had bite wounds on its two hind flippers and right front flipper.
The patrol team immediately notified the OCA of the incidents and inquired about the appropriate course of action. The OCA and two veterinarians from the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium discussed the matter and concluded that the mother turtle's wounds were mainly scales and posed no immediate threat to her life. Forcibly taking her into custody might disrupt her egg-laying cycle and could potentially require inducing egg-laying. If the turtle could crawl into the sea, there was no need to take it into custody. And as predicted, the turtle went into the sea on its own around 11 p.m. that same night.
"All we can do is stay onshore and protect it from a second attack." Shi uploaded a video of the mother turtle attack and its wounds to social media threads, hoping to raise public awareness.
Unexpectedly, he heard dogs barking again on the evening of June 6th and discovered that another female turtle, identified as "TW5304," had also been bitten on its hind flippers. According to the video provided by Shi, dog paw prints were found next to the turtle's tracks. "TW5304" came ashore again on the 7th and successfully laid eggs.
Feeding dogs or dumping food?
Even before the patrol team was established, there had been incidents of stray dogs attacking sea turtles and eating their eggs. Shi said that there are usually two or three stray dogs on the beach, which are black, white and yellow respectively. However, when he tries to approach them, they run away, so he cannot provide more specific characteristics to distinguish whether different dogs were taking turns appearing there.
Stray dogs not only attack the turtles, but have also been reported to "choose their targets" (e.g., chasing cyclists or scooter riders).
"Tourists have no way to deal with this; they don't know where to file a complaint or report it. If locals are bitten, they tend to settle privately because they are fellow villagers."
Most of the stray dogs on Orchid Island are not microchipped. Shi mentioned that nearby residents have been feeding the dogs since they were puppies, and "the dogs wander around near his house." He has advised residents not to feed them, and some are willing to keep their dogs on a leash, but some elderly people consider his request "unreasonable" and ask "Why should we care about this or that?" When he raises concerns about public safety due to the dogs chasing people, elderly people who feed them argue, "These aren't my dogs; I just leave the leftovers there! They come and eat the food themselves."
Lack of funding and manpower leaves Orchid Island's stray dog problem unmanaged
The Marine Life Conservation Division of the OCA responded to reporters on the evening of the 8th, stating that the Orchid Township Iratay Tribe Community Development Association established a patrol team in 2023. In the years 2023, 2025, and 2026, they reported incidents of dogs harassing sea turtles coming ashore in the Iratay Tribe, with approximately one to two occurring each year. Green Sea Turtles usually return to the sea immediately, but dog footprints revealed that the dogs periodically dig up nests and eat turtle eggs. Therefore, beginning this year (2026), the administration has installed unmanned automatic cameras to record this evidence.
An examination of sea turtle nesting habitats across Taiwan revealed that no cases of dog harassment occurred in Xiaoliuqiu(小琉球) or Wang-an, Penghu (澎湖望安). One case in Shili, Penghu (澎湖蒔裡), was not formally reported. Orchid Township was the area with the most serious dog harassment, and all the cases occurred at Dabadai Beach.
In 2025, the patrol team reported that strays had eaten turtle eggs. OCA notified the Orchid Island Township Office, the Taitung County Animal Disease Control Center, and the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency. However, all have said that due to the free-roaming habits of dogs in Orchid Township, sterilizing the dogs would be difficult.
According to OCA, there are no veterinarians on Orchid Island, and the township office cannot perform sterilization and neutering immediately upon capture. They would need to bring in a team from Taiwan to be stationed there. However, the township office only has NT$100,000 annually for dog and cat sterilization and deworming. Furthermore, after sterilization, dogs need to be temporarily housed in a recovery area, and the township office lacks a suitable place to house them. The Taitung County Government also lacks facilities for sheltering dogs, forcing them to either remain in their original location or be relocated to other areas for release into the wild.
The township office will soon compile photos of dogs attacking sea turtles and information on popular sea turtle nesting areas. It will also send letters to the OCA, the Taitung County Agriculture Department, and the Animal Disease Control Center to discuss solutions across departments. The township office has also sent letters to village offices requesting residents to use leashes. The OCA pledges to work with local governments to address and manage the stray dog problem.
He posted the video with one plea: 'Can We Please Stop Feeding Them?'
Is the way the public sector handles stray dogs appropriate? Shi hesitated for a few seconds, "Unless it really makes the news, there is no possibility of taking action." But as the OCA told reporters, the local government is understaffed, and animal protection units can enter the area but cannot catch the dogs. Shi believes that this usually leads to no action taken.
To raise awareness among the people of Orchid Island about stray dogs attacking protected sea turtles, Shi posts videos on social media. Many elderly people also see his posts, asking, "Your foreign species (stray dogs) are bullying the sea turtles. Can some of the older folks please stop feeding them?"
At the same time, he also wants tourists to know that there are green sea turtles on the beaches of Orchid Island, "because tourists setting off fireworks, firecrackers, or burning campfires will affect the sea turtles coming to shore."
Translated by Jaye Brayboy; Proofread by Stella Cammack and Vita Liu (劉祐君).
*Note: This article has been translated between Chinese and English. Proper names and pinyin spellings are provided for reference only.
