(CN - HKG) NEWS WILD Wild boar attack Hong Kong

[Guest guest]

>We don't believe there has ever been recorded a case of a human

>being injured by a wild pig in Hong Kong.

 

 

Not true; see below for details of the most recent such

attack that I am aware of.

 

Trying to cope with feral & wild pigs is among the most

difficult problems in animal control.

 

To date, no one has ever succeeded in eradicating a pig

population from any mainland habitat. Pigs under hunting pressure

rapidly adapt to a nocturnal existence, spending their days

underground. They also produce huge & very fast-growing litters.

 

In theory, neuter/return could be practiced with pigs, but

pigs are relatively difficult to sterilize, being hard to

anesthetize and having a lot of fat to cut through to access the

ovaries.

 

Immunocontraception works with pigs, & can be used to hold a

pig population within reasonable limits, but no contraception or

sterilization method achieves a rapid reduction in a pig population.

Neither does contraception or sterilization keep problem pigs out of

trouble.

 

Trying to fence pigs out of problem areas is also fairly

dififcult, as pigs can knock down or dig under most fences, if

sufficiently motivated -- and pigs are notorious for learning how to

run through electric fences with minimal shocking.

 

The best solution to a pig problem is to prevent it from

happening in the first place. The best time to use the

immunocontraceptive approach, for example, is long before

complaints begin arriving about problem pigs.

 

Once a location has problem pigs, only removing the food

sources really helps much, and that requires considerable effort,

since pigs eat almost anything.

 

 

-

 

 

The Standard, Hong Kong Wednesday, April 08, 2009

 

Wild boar attacks pensioner in Tai Po

by Nickkita Lau

 

A 77-year-old man was in hospital last night after a rampaging wild

boar pinned him to the ground and bit him in the groin in Tai Po

yesterday.

 

Leung Kam-fai was playing cards with his friends at a rest area in

Ying Pun Ha, when the 70-kilogram beast jumped a fence and charged at

him.

 

Plucky pensioner Leung tried to fight off the boar with a stick and

managed to keep it at bay for one minute before it attacked, knocking

him to the ground and sinking its teeth into his groin for several

seconds.

 

Leung was rushed to Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, bleeding

and with the front ripped off his trousers. He was in a stable

condition last night.

 

The attack, shortly after 1pm, has led to calls for the government to

control the wild boar population.

 

An eyewitness said the boar had become trapped in a fence at a nearby

house and when it freed itself it ran along a trench outside the

house until it hit a dead end and jumped over a meter-tall fence.

 

The animal ran up the hill to the rest area where some elderly people

were playing cards. Mr Lee said the boar ran towards him but he

blocked it with a bike. The animal then turned on Leung.

 

Police searched the area but could not find the animal.

 

Alex Yeung Kai-keung, leader of the civilian but officially

registered Tai Po Wild Pig Hunting Team, said the presence of boars

is prominent in the villages but the government has done little to

protect residents. He said people are feeding boars at places like

Kam Shan Country Park and this ought to be discouraged. He also

called on the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department to

carry out sterilizations on boars to control the population.

 

He added that boars do not attack unless they are large males, have

protruding teeth and are hungry, frightened, sick, or think their

babies are in danger.

 

When faced with a raging boar, Yeung said people should stay calm and

never launch an attack.

 

---

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Cell: 360-969-0450

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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