As Taiwan labours under a severe shortage of eggs, a woman’s dramatic reaction after she regained possession of two cartons of the stolen produce has provided a dose of comic relief for the island’s social media. The woman, surnamed Yeh, bought the last two cartons on a supermarket shelf containing 20 eggs after visiting five outlets in New Taipei City, on March 12. She left her purchase in the basket of her bicycle to return to the supermarket to buy more produce. However, minutes later when she returned, the eggs were gone. Immediately, Yeh reported the theft to the police. Officers checked dozens of surveillance cameras around the supermarket, arrested a 61-year-old man and recovered the eggs within four hours. Yeh was “eggstatic” when interviewed on television. “I’m so happy. This is the first time in my life I have gone to a police station, and the first time appearing on TV, thanks to these two cartons of eggs,” the 38-year-old said. She was also amused by the fact that the eggs were stolen but the bike was not. Taiwan has faced severe egg shortages due to bird flu outbreaks that have led to as many as 220,000 chickens being culled, a situation which has been exacerbated by supply problems caused by the conflict in Ukraine and cold weather. Amid rising prices and supply problems, supermarkets have put rationing in place causing some people to take desperate measures to get eggs. On March 11, a blood donation centre in Yilan county on the island attracted a long queue two hours ahead opening after saying it would give a box of 30 eggs to each of the first 100 donors. Earlier this month, Taiwan’s CTS News reported that a mother goose in New Taipei City laid seven eggs and saw all of them stolen. To soothe the traumatised bird, a kind-hearted person bought a fertilised goose egg for it to sit on.