AFCD conducts wild-pig capture operation at Chuk Yuen (North) Estate in Wong Tai Sin District
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) conducted a wild-pig capture operation at Chuk Yuen (North) Estate in Wong Tai Sin District today (March 27) to reduce the number of wild pigs in the area and to safeguard public safety.
An AFCD spokesman said that officers commenced the operation at 10.15am today, during which a veterinarian used a tranquilizer gun to capture five wild pigs. The pigs were then relocated and released at a remote countryside location away from residential areas. The five wild pigs comprised one adult female, measuring approximately 1.3 metres in length and weighing about 90 kilograms, as well as one male piglet and three female piglets, each measuring about 0.4m in length and weighing around 0.5kg.
The wild pigs concerned had been sighted in the area for over a week. Taking into account the possibility that they had become habituated to venturing into urban areas, as well as the presence of four piglets each around 1 month old, the AFCD decided, after assessing public safety and animal welfare considerations, to relocate the sow and piglets together to a remote countryside location away from residential areas. The AFCD will continue to closely monitor the situation. If the group of wild pigs re-enters urban areas again, causing a nuisance or posing a safety threat to the public, the AFCD will consider capturing the wild pigs and humanely dispatching them.
The AFCD also conducted a wild-pig capture operation at the same location on March 17. The wild pigs captured on that occasion were humanely dispatched in accordance with established procedures. As those pigs had reached a substantial size and were capable of foraging and moving independently, posing a relatively higher potential risk to public safety, the AFCD decided on a humane dispatch following the risk assessment.
Wild pigs are common in Hong Kong. Owing to the lack of natural predators, their strong reproductive capacity and illegal feeding activities by people, their number has increased rapidly over the past decade. Some wild pigs have become accustomed to entering urban and residential areas. During the same period, the number of nuisance reports involving wild pigs has risen significantly, with occasional human injury cases reported. This year, two human injury incidents involving wild pigs have occurred in Ma On Shan and Tseung Kwan O. The AFCD will continue to adopt a multipronged approach, including handling nuisance complaints, conducting capture and humane dispatch operations to control their numbers, strengthening patrols and enforcement against illegal feeding, and enhancing public education to remind members of the public not to feed wild pigs, thereby reducing nuisance and safety risks posed by wild pigs to the public. In cases involving newborn or young piglets, the AFCD will exercise particular caution, fully considering the dependence of the piglets on the sow and the associated risks before making appropriate arrangements.
The AFCD reminds members of the public to remain calm when encountering wild pigs and not to approach or disturb them. If necessary, individuals should take shelter behind an obstacle and wait until the wild pig has left before proceeding. Members of the public should not throw objects at or attempt to drive away wild pigs, as this may provoke them and cause danger. If a wild pig poses an immediate threat to personal safety, please call 999 for police assistance.
Source: AI-found images
