Sunday 14 February 2021

HONG KONG: An Urban Wild Boar







AJP was walking to the Aberdeen MTR Station a couple of weeks ago when, much to his surprise, he spotted a wild boar walking along the footpath towards him.

In the 1960s wild boar were very rare, having previously been abundant. So rare that Patricia Marshall in her Wild Mammals of Hong Kong (1967) wrote of ‘there being possibly only one or two families of not more than five individuals in each. One family on Lantau [island], one in the New Territories’.


Now they are said to be everywhere with a massive increase in the past few years. People feeding them are being blamed for their presence in urban areas. This one was the epitome of nonchalance as it sauntered along the street.


It reminds me of the 1934 temperance song:


Yes, the pig got up and slowly walked away

Slowly walked away, slowly walked away

Yes, the pig got up and he turned and winked at me

As he slowly walked away


The genetic history of these pigs would be interesting, especially since there were thought to be none on Hong Kong island (Aberdeen is on the island for those unfamiliar with the place) by the late 1960s. 


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