Time’s up for Hong Kong’s nuisance boars, but who will stop people who feed wild animals?
- Authorities act after sharp rise in injuries, boar sightings in urban areas in recent years
- Wild boars keep wandering into built-up areas mainly because people won’t stop feeding them
The husband-and-wife team has spearheaded a drive since 2017 to rein in the city’s wild boar population by using a contraceptive vaccine and sterilisation.
That evening, however, they could not get started. An argument broke out between a farmer whose crops had been destroyed by boars and who wanted them removed, and a group of villagers who had been feeding the animals and insisted that they be allowed to stay.
“We could not do anything. We just sat and watched while people were screaming at each other,” Karthi Martelli said.
When both sides refused to budge, the team of about 20 called off their mission, packed up and left.
The scene that evening reflected the divide over wild boars in Hong Kong, with animal-lovers facing off against others demanding action against the animals, which they considered a nuisance and even dangerous.
Urban jungle