Civet cats, barking deer, porcupine and wild boar: Hong Kong’s urban jungle becoming home to wild animals
Boars, porcupines, deer and other assorted fauna are being spotted in the city with greater frequency as property development continues to encroach onto green belt areas, driving displaced creatures into the urban landscape
Hong Kong’s concrete jungles are surrounded by swathes of green wilderness, so it should hardly be a surprise when creatures other than cockroaches and mosquitoes stray into the city, like the wild boar seen wandering outside the swanky Conrad Hotel in Admiralty last month.
The intruder was one of three boars that made headlines after being spotted in as many weeks in urban centres; a second was seen in a Wong Tai Sin housing estate, the third in Hong Kong Park, leading the authorities on a five-hour chase to capture the beast.
If property development continues to encroach onto Hong Kong’s green belt areas, as is likely, more wild animals will be displaced and some may well adapt to living in the urban landscape.
In fact, more exotic and secretive creatures are already living in our midst than we may imagine, according to Dr Gary Ades, head of the fauna conservation department at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in Tai Po.
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One such animal is the masked palm civet, a timid, nocturnal omnivore that spends much of its time in trees, where it will feed on fruit. The mammal gets its name from its black face mask, has an elongated body and grows to between 50cm and 76cm long.