TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After a baby squirrel fell from the trees and landed on a student’s shoe at Kaohsiung’s Ruifeng Elementary School on Sept. 30, a teacher volunteered to care for the animal and is documenting the process daily on the school’s Facebook page.
School staff initially tried putting the baby squirrel by a tree to see if the mother would take it back. It soon became apparent, however, that it was abandoned and was not yet capable of climbing a tree on its own.
When the school’s staff realized the squirrel had not been weaned, a teacher at the school with experience helping lost wild animals took the squirrel in and named it Rui Baobao (瑞寶寶), meaning “Ruifeng’s baby.” The school plans to let it return to its natural habitat — the school’s trees — once the animal is mature enough, and urged students to respect wildlife while observing it on campus.
In order to help Rui Baobao grow up healthily, the teacher had to remove it from where schoolchildren’s voices may frighten it. However, to engage students in the process of raising the squirrel, the teacher who took in Rui Baobao began posting the animal's growth diary on the school’s Facebook page.
Rui Baobao nursing on a syringe. (Facebook, Kaohsiung Ruifeng Elementary School video)
Over the week, the teacher, who calls herself Rui Baobao’s halfway mom, shared photos and videos, along with explanations of what she has prepared or done for the squirrel, as well as pieces of squirrel-related knowledge.
The teacher identified Rui Baobao as a red-bellied tree squirrel and confirmed in a trivia quiz interaction that the species reaches maturity at 10 months old. She said Rui Baobao is estimated to be two months old and still needs nutrition from milk.
While many people thanked the school for taking good care of the lost squirrel and providing students the chance to engage in the process, there have also been concerns about raising Rui Baobao in captivity.
The school responded positively to these concerns, agreeing that the less human contact there is, the better, and welcomed any input on appropriate resources or experts who may be able to better aid the squirrel’s release. “However, at the same time, we also hope to make use of the chance event to let students get in-depth knowledge about animals commonly seen at school, in addition to protecting the animal.”
Rui Baobao has now grown much bigger. (Facebook, Kaohsiung Reuifeng Elementary School photo)