TNUA formally named its newly arrived buffalo “Mary Jane” at a ceremony on April 25, with Kd Arts Space holding an exhibition of pictures of all the buffaloes that the university has ever kept.

TNUA President Yang Chyi Wen noted that the school buffaloes strolling on campus have been a collective memory of all the students and staff of the university. The presence of the buffaloes actually originated from a creative activity.

In 2005, Indian artist S. Chandrasekan borrowed a buffalo from Taiwan’s northeastern county of Yilan to feature in a work of art he would be presenting at TNUA.
While the artist’s activity was well received, the buffalo also became popular and stayed in at TNUA. The sponsor of the activity then brought another buffalo to TNUA, and the pair was kept at the Egret Grassland near the front gate.

The two buffaloes were later sent to Chingtiangang on Yangmingshan when they became old.

But the grassland looked a bit empty without the buffaloes, so in 2008 someone donated two calves to TNUA. The two six-month-old calves were named “Xiao Li” and “Xiao Mei.”  

But on February 19, 2017, Xiao Mei died of kidney failure at the age of 12. The university bid farewell to Xiao Mei by giving it a solemn funeral.

And in order to find a new friend for Xiao Li, the university brought in a new calf. The Chinese name for the new calf was decided by a vote by all the students and staff off TNUA.