HONG KONGISH
Is it an auspicious time to be a wild boar in Hong Kong, asks MARTIN WILLIAMS Martin Williams有個疑問：在香港生而為野豬到底是否一種福氣？
MARTIN WILLIAMS welcomes the Year of the Pig by meeting Hong Kong’s wild boars
IF YOU WANDERED through the Hong Kong countryside during the previous Year of the Pig – 12 years ago, according to the Chinese zodiac calendar – probably the only pigs you’d have encountered would have been the cartoon variety on backpacks and t-shirts. But as the new Year of the Pig begins this month, there’s every chance a hike will bring you face-to-snout with the real thing.
Wild boars used to be phantoms of the forests – hidden away by day, leaving signs such as disturbed soil where they rooted for food in the night.
‘I have been studying wildlife in the field since I joined Hong Kong University in 1988,’ says Dr Billy Hau, programme director of the school of biological sciences. ‘Back then, wild boar were pretty shy and often ran away when I came across them. But in recent years, especially in country parks where they’re fed, they don’t run any more and some even approach to beg for food.’
While feeding wild animals including boars is officially discouraged, it’s become popular with some, who delight in close encounters with Hong Kong’s largest land mammals. Wild boars look like domestic pigs, descended from their wild relatives, but with longer, slender snouts and bristly, dark fur. They can reach two metres long and weigh up to 200 kilograms.
It’s been a lucky decade for Hong Kong’s wild boars.
‘ The population seems to be booming,’ says Paul Crow, senior conservation officer at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden.
‘ The predators that used to help control the population are long gone. Once we would have had tigers, leopards and dhole (Asiatic wild dog), among others. Now, only pythons. Even the old villagers that once trapped and hunted them are fading out, so there’s very little to control populations.’
Sightings of wild boars on the city fringes have increased, too. Boars are attracted to bins – ready sources of food for these omnivores. Plus, as Hau points out, humans have moved closer to where wild boars live. In October last year, three boars were spotted trotting through Causeway Bay – one of the most densely packed and neon-lit of Hong Kong’s urban centres. They were safely tranquillised and returned to their more usual habitat.
There are a few reports of boars attacking humans. One involved a boar that was kicked by a police officer tasked with catching it. The boar – not unreasonably, you might think – retaliated, attacking the policeman, a passing cyclist and a van before being caught with nets and taken away.
Some people support killing wild boars before one seriously harms someone. While hunting boars is illegal without a permit, in the 1970s the government established two teams to cull them after reports of problems with boars ravaging crops on farmland. However, operations were suspended in 2017 in favour of a more humane contraception trial.
Crow believes culling may ultimately be needed – but ‘based on sound science and population monitoring. We don’t have that yet.’
Hau agrees. ‘ There is no long-term population data on the species. No one
can say that number of wild boars has increased significantly.’ The population explosion, if there was one, would have begun long ago, given Hong Kong’s last tiger was shot during the Second World War.
As humans look for ways to co-exist with wild boars – and other species – he remarks, ‘I am not afraid of them as I know to keep a distance and not to trigger their fear.’
So if you come across a wild boar: show some respect and keep your distance, while hopefully enjoying the encounter from afar. And remember: no kicking.
如果你在上一個豬年（即12年前）曾經到香港的郊野一遊，見你 到的豬，可能只是遊人背身和 上T恤的豬形卡通圖案。月本 新的豬年又來臨，你可能在春青新 踏 之際，與一頭貨真價實的豬狹路相。逢
野豬本來大隱於森林，行蹤詭秘，白天絕少現身，只在晚上出來覓食，在地土 上留下翻得亂七八糟的痕跡。
香港學大 生物科學學院課總程 監侯智恆博士說：「我自從於1988年加入香港學大後，就一直對野生動物進行實地考察。當年的野豬相當膽小，當我碰見牠們時，牠們往往都會跑掉。不過近年情況完全不同了，尤 其是在郊野公園；裡那是牠們覓食的地點，牠見們 到人不再跑掉，有時甚至走近來前 ，向我討食物。」
雖然政府並不鼓勵公眾餵飼野生動物， 括野豬，不過這種行為卻在某些人之間流行起來，他們認為能與香港最巨型的陸上哺乳類動物近離作 距 接觸，是一件令人十分高興的事。野豬與家豬一樣，都是從野生的品種繁衍，而來 但是野豬的鼻子較狹長，而且遍體深長滿 棕色硬的 毛。牠們可以生長到兩米長，體重達200公斤。
對於香港的野豬來說，過去的十年可說是鴻運當頭的日子。
日道理農場暨植物園高保級 育主任高保然說：「野豬的數目日漸增長。以往我們有老虎、豹和亞洲野狗等動物，牠們有助控制野豬的數目。可是在現 ，這些捕獵牠們的動早物 就消失了，只剩下蟒蛇。以前有還 些老村民會設陷阱或捕獵牠，們 現在這些人恐怕都不在了，因此可以控制野豬數目的因素變得非常少」。
市民在區邊帶市 周 一 目擊野豬出沒的次數亦愈愈來 頻密。野豬是雜食動因物，此圾對垃 桶牠們有莫大的吸引力。，此外 正如侯智恆指出人， 類住地居 的 方愈愈來 接斤野豬棲息的地點。去年10月，就人到有 見三頭野豬在車水馬龍、繁華熱鬧的銅鑼灣閒逛。牠們後來被麻醉後，安然無恙地送回郊野地區。
此外，過往也曾發生過幾宗野豬襲擊 人類的事件。其中一宗是一名警員在捕捉一頭野豬時，用腳踢牠；野豬反抗然，當 也是意料中事。這頭野豬不但襲擊警員同，時殃名及一 騎單車經過的途人及一輛小型貨最墮車， 後牠 進羅網，被移送別往 處去。
有些人支持獵殺，野豬 以免日後發生嚴重的傷人事件。在港香 ，若沒有政府的許可，捕獵野豬是非法行為。1970年代，由於發多生 宗野豬損毀農地上農作物的事件，政成府 立兩支野豬狩隊獵 ，限量捕獵野豬。，不過 狩隊獵 已於2017年起停止任執行務為，改 採用較人道的避孕方式控來 制野豬數目。
高保然相，信 最終可能還是需要進行限量捕獵，但是「根要 據完整的科學及數目監察才能作決，定 但目前我們還未做這一」步。
侯智恆對這一點亦表示同意。他說：「對於野豬的數目我有們沒 長期搜集的數據有，沒 人可以確定野豬的數目已經大幅增長。」如果野豬數目有急速上升的話，這情況應該早就出現了，因為香最一港 後 頭老虎於二次界戰世 大 時已被射殺。
人類不斷尋找各種與野豬及其他生物共存的方式，侯智恆說：升我不怕牠，們 我知道只要保持距離，要牠感不 令 們 到受威脅就行了。」
如你果 遇到野豬，請表示一點尊重，保持距離，遠從 處享受與野豬接觸的時光。還有，記住千萬不要踢牠。
IN OCTOBER LAST YEAR, THREE BOARS WERE SPOTTED TROTTING THROUGH CAUSEWAY BAY 去年10月，就有人見到三頭野豬在銅鑼灣閒逛