Nantou: Authorities are investigating an incident this week in which a man was fatally shot as he returned from changing the battery of a wildlife surveillance camera in a remote mountainous area of Nantou County.

According to Focus Taiwan, the Nantou Police Department’s Ren’ai Precinct reported that the shooting occurred late Tuesday night. The victim, a 50-year-old Indigenous man surnamed Chang, and two Indigenous companions had gone to change the battery of a Formosan black bear surveillance camera.

On their return journey, approximately three kilometers from the Ganzhuowan Peaks trailhead and heading towards Sanlailing Mountain Forest Road, Chang was struck in the head by a bullet. The reasons for the shooting are still under investigation, as stated by the precinct.

Following the incident, Chang’s companions alerted the police, who then dispatched a search team to the area early Wednesday and found him dead.

Multiple news outlets reported Thursday that Chang was a member of a local organization fun
ded by the government to conduct Formosan black bear conservation work. Reports suggest his shooting may have resulted from an accidental discharge of his own gun, an Indigenous hunting rifle he had with him in the woods.

According to the report, at the time of the shooting, Chang was walking behind his friends. Upon hearing the gunshot, they rushed back and found him on the ground, struck by a bullet that had entered through his nostril and traveled to the back of his head.

Chang’s companions are currently listed as witnesses rather than suspects in the shooting. Authorities have scheduled a forensic examination on Thursday and an autopsy on Friday to determine the cause of his death.