Red fire ants invade Disneyland site
Another 30 nests are found at nine locations, taking the city-wide total to 576
Exotic creatures are already starting to appear at the yet-to-be-completed Hong Kong Disneyland - red fire ants.
Ten days after the first ant colonies were discovered in Hong Kong at the International Wetland Park in the northwest New Territories, it was confirmed yesterday that the ants have also invaded the Disneyland site at Penny's Bay, Lantau.
A suspected red fire ant nest was found by theme park staff near its entrance on Wednesday.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department yesterday confirmed the presence there of red fire ants, and said another 29 nests had been found in eight other locations - three of them also on Lantau, three in Tin Shui Wai and the others in Sheung Shui and Lok Ma Chau.
It is not yet known whether the anthill at Disneyland was in a newly planted area - a favoured habitat of the Latin American species in Hong Kong.
Most of the newly infested areas are on vacant land administered by the Lands Department.
If a nest is disturbed, the ants swarm on the intruder, stinging repeatedly. Such attacks can kill humans.
A Disneyland spokeswoman confirmed the ants' presence.
'We notified the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and sought advice from international experts before eradicating the ants based on the recommendations of the department.'
Earlier, in response to media inquiries, she said staff had inspected the park and found no trace of the red fire ants. 'We inspect the site every day. The sheer size of the park might pose some difficulties [in spotting anthills.
'We will continue to closely monitor the situation and implement pest control measures,' the spokeswoman said.
Another anthill was found a week ago in a temporary nursery in Penny's Bay managed by the Civil Engineering and Development Department.
In an unrelated case, 16 Canary Island date palms were removed last month from a site next to the theme park after they were found to be infested with red palm weevils, a destructive pest whose larvae eat their hosts.
The palms are believed to have been imported from Australia by a nursery in Guangdong.
The Disney theme park is scheduled to open in September. Since January 25, some 576 red fire ant nests have been identified across the city. Of these, 165 have still to be destroyed.
So far, the largest concentrations of anthills have been found in the wetland park (85), along the Sheung Yue River (84) and beside the Ng Tung River (71).
