Is it time to call an end to Hong Kong’s boar war?

Illustration: Victor Sanjinez Shortly before the evening rush hour recently, chaos erupted at Hong Kong’s Wu Kai Sha MTR station when a wild boar stormed through the concourse.

The animal, about 1.2 metres long and weighing around 40kg, knocked down an elderly man.

The charging boar left a trail of blood on the station floor, injuring three other residents in a frenzied dash towards a nearby bus terminus and housing estates. “I saw it rampaging at the bus terminus while residents followed, snapping photos,” a woman working at a nearby bakery recalled. “The boar looked even more panicked than the people.” The animal ran wildly onto the road to evade capture as scores of police officers equipped with shields and Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) staff tried to corner it.

One department worker suffered a leg injury in the process.

The subadult male boar was anaesthetised about three hours later and euthanised.

The chaotic episode on February 27 caused shock and concern among residents, providing a jarring snapshot of a larger problem – Hong Kong’s more frequent collision with animals that once only roamed the hills but now move to the edges of people’s daily lives with unsettling ease.

A boar caused havoc in Wu Kai Sha in late February.

Photo: Threads/terryyu Wildlife experts blame loss of habitat due to urban expansion and illegal feeding for the rise in human-boar conflicts, which have prompted authorities to resort to aggressive control measures, including culling.

The latest department statistics show that the overall wild boar population decreased from 2,000 in 2021 to 1,830 in 2022 and 1,360 in 2023.

The number further plunged to 900 in 2024.

More than 2,200 wild boars were culled between 2021 and 2025.

As boar numbers continue to decline, the government’s strategies have come under scrutiny for their long-term sustainability, with wildlife experts and advocates calling for a policy review to balance public safety, animal welfare and ecological integrity in Hong Kong, one of the world’s most densely populated cities. “Sustainability is the main concern,” said Gary Ades, head of the fauna conservation department at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden. “We have to make sure that we don’t reduce the population to a size which is then not sustainable because these are our native animals and they do have a benefit in our forests.” In Hang Hau’s Sheung Yeung Village, nestled on a hillside surrounded by greenery, wild boars co

原文链接: 南华早报