An island in Hong Kong is out of grass for its feral cows, their pasture destroyed by a stampede of campers escaping Covid-19 restrictions

Volunteers have resorted to cutting fresh grass and shipping it to the island, also called Tap Mun, to stop the herd from starving to death
A surge in visitors has trampled herd’s food source, creating an ecological disaster and leaving cows to eat rubbish they leave behind

Wellness

Agence France-Presse

Published: 11:15am, 11 Feb 2021

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Once grassy pastures that nurtured feral cows on an island in Hong Kong have been reduced to barren dirt by the feet of hordes of hikers and campers escaping coronavirus boredom, leaving the herd hungry.

Volunteers have resorted to cutting fresh grass and shipping it to Tap Mun, or Grass Island, to stop the herd from starving in the Year of the Ox.

The animals have made their home for generations alongside a few dozen fishing families on the island in northeast Hong Kong off Sai Kung. Until the coronavirus struck last year, a largely manageable number of hikers and campers made their way to the island.

But with overseas travel no longer possible for most Hongkongers, a huge influx of visitors has arrived as residents look for ways to escape the confines of Social distancing in one of the world’s most densely populated cities.

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Volunteers send food to keep wild cows alive on Hong Kong’s desolate Tap Mun

“Suddenly there are massive numbers of people coming and trampling on the grass,” said Ho Loy, chairwoman of Lantau Buffalo Association, an activist group that campaigns to protect Hong Kong’s wild buffaloes and cows.

All across the island, popular hiking trails that slice through thick carpets of grass have become increasingly bare, while the main campsite, where the island’s cows would often come to feed among the tents, has become little more than a brown patch of sandy earth.

As overseas travel is no longer possible for most Hongkongers, Grass Island has had a huge increase in visitors. Photo: AFP

“There was too much trampling on the ground, it’s not just the grass that cannot grow, the compost layer of the soil also disappeared … It’s now becoming an eco-disaster,” she said.

Every month, Ho holds a workshop to train volunteers to collect fresh grass and raise awareness among campers.

On a recent weekend, the group spent three hours travelling to some of Hong Kong’s more remote villages to collect fresh hay using sickles and scissors. They then transported it to Grass Island, where the hungry herd soon emerged to tuck into their delivery.

A volunteer feeds hungry cattle on Grass Island. Photo: AFP

Without grass, the cows turn increasingly to visitors or rummage through the rubbish left behind, with potentially fatal consequences. “We saw cows going to the bins and hunting for food,” said Jennifer Wai, who joined the workshop with her husband. “We saw them eat candy still in a bottle and they ate the whole thing. It was heartbreaking to see.”

Ho said many visitors do not know enough about wildlife protection and often feed the cows because they are sociable, friendly animals.

“That’s dangerous,” she said. “Many of the cows you can see, they have a strange, swollen stomach, which means they have a certain amount of plastic in their digestive system.”

Volunteers transport bags of grass for the cattle to eat on the remote Hong Kong island. Photo: AFP

As well as feeding the cows, volunteers visited campers to spread awareness about protecting the animals and to remind them not to leave rubbish behind.

“This is a natural beauty of Hong Kong that’s going to be lost,” said Wai’s husband, Freddy Ramaker. “I think people should care.”

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