EditorialBalance is vital for urban Hong Kong to coexist with wild animals
Monitoring numbers and humane management will boost the city’s reputation and respect for a rich natural fabric alongside urban development
The incidents have dismayed animal activists, who urged Hong Kong authorities to review their five-year-old culling strategy for wild boars and to introduce measures such as animal bridges to reduce human-wildlife conflict in urban areas. The problem of roaming wild animals, which partly originated as farms were abandoned, and the conflict over humane ways to deal with it are likely to continue amid accelerated developments such as the Northern Metropolis project near the mainland border, which encroach on and destroy the animals’ natural habitats.
It is easy to empathise with those who find the current policies cruel, and equally with those who filed the more than 1,000 boar-related nuisance reports annually. Some will recall that two male buffaloes charged a group of eight-year-olds on Lantau Island during mating season, injuring three and scattering the others. Animal activists fear inadequate city planning will exacerbate the problem, endangering more animals as well as people.
Hongkongers who feed these wild animals must bear some responsibility. Since August 2024, feeding any wild animals or feral pigeons in Hong Kong is banned, with a maximum penalty of a HK$100,000 (US$12,700) fine and one year in jail.
It is a question of balance, as it often is when it comes to progress and conservation. So long as development leaves them some habitat, buffalo and boar are likely to remain part of a living ecological and environmental heritage that sets crowded, high-rise Hong Kong apart. It calls for monitoring of numbers and humane management that enhances the city’s reputation and respect for its rich and diverse natural fabric alongside vibrant urban development.