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Hong Kong environmental issues
Lifestyle

Surprising Hong Kong: a celebration of city’s wildlife in all its astonishing diversity

  • The blog and guide Wildcreatures Hong Kong, and a Facebook page, were started by photographer Robert Ferguson
  • He has spent more than 20 years documenting Hong Kong’s wildlife

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The lantern bug. Found across the Asian tropics, the lantern bug (Pyrops candelaria) is a weird and wonderful insect: it has a head that extends into a hollow structure resembling a rhino horn, often nearly as large as its body, six legs, extremely varied and brilliant contrasting colours, the mouth of a mosquito, and often stays for generations on the same tree. Its fantastic appearance is matched by the myth that the head structure is luminous at night. Photo: courtesy of Wildcreatures Hong Kong
Kylie Knott

At the beginning of 2018, Hong Kong-based photographer and nature lover Robert Ferguson launched Wildcreatures Hong Kong (wildcreatureshongkong.org), a blog and guide celebrating local animals – some common and some not so common.

The site and Facebook page also offer information to help identify species, with a selection of stunning photographs, most of them taken by Ferguson, who has spent more than 20 years gathering information on Hong Kong wildlife.

And there’s a lot to take in.

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While Hong Kong is small in size, it’s big on biodiversity. Government figures paint a rich environmental picture: more than 3,300 species of plants, 57 species of mammals, more than 540 species of birds, 198 species of freshwater fish, 86 species of reptiles, 24 species of amphibians, 236 species of butterflies and 123 species of dragonflies.

From the colourful lantern bug and tiger beetle to the crimson dropwing dragonfly, we take a look at some of the creatures great and small that inhabit this city, all beautifully captured by the nature lovers at Wildcreatures Hong Kong.

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The blue-tailed skink is a shy reptile with a bright blue tail that fades with age. They are often seen on sunny, rocky slopes and at altitude (look for them on The Peak, or on Tai Mo Shan). They have excellent vision and quickly disappear, but patience is often rewarded as they come back out to sun themselves again. Photo: courtesy of Wildcreatures Hong Kong
The blue-tailed skink is a shy reptile with a bright blue tail that fades with age. They are often seen on sunny, rocky slopes and at altitude (look for them on The Peak, or on Tai Mo Shan). They have excellent vision and quickly disappear, but patience is often rewarded as they come back out to sun themselves again. Photo: courtesy of Wildcreatures Hong Kong
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