COA program funds civilian patrols to protect endangered leopard cats 03/05/2021 06:22 PM To activate the text-to-speech service, please first agree to the privacy policy below. One of the two leopard cats recently tagged and released. Photo courtesy of the Endemic Species Research Institute Taipei, March 5 (CNA) The Council of Agriculture (COA) on Friday shared the results of a pilot program in central Taiwan's Nantou County, in which local residents can receive government grants to form patrols to help protect Taiwan's endangered leopard cat population. The program, launched by the COA's Endemic Species Research Institute in 2019, is currently limited to parts of Nantou and Miaoli counties with established populations of leopard cats, which are estimated to number between 300 and 500 nationwide.