A tourist who was gored by a feral buffalo on a popular Lantau beach is suing the government for not catching the animal before the attack.
The man's identity has not been disclosed, but officials acknowledged the lawsuit was filed.
He is taking legal action against the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department over the incident on Silvermine Beach on March 26 in which his leg was injured.
'There are some legal proceedings against the department that have been passed on to the Department of Justice,' principal veterinary officer Dr Howard Wong Kai-hay said. 'The legal proceedings against us are [allegedly] because the buffalos could have been caught by us but were not.'
The man was gored by a bull from the Mui Wo village herd which at the time numbered six. Three were killed by government officers on March 31 but the department could not say whether the attacker was among them. Plans to remove the remaining three have met fierce opposition from some parts of the Lantau community.
Residents said the attacking bull was harassed earlier by beachgoers, although not by the victim.
Wong said the original plan was for all six to be killed but 'we left three behind because we could not catch them'. After initially deciding to leave the three remaining buffalos alone the department received complaints that the animals were being harassed and, fearing another attack, decided to move them.