A total of 916 boars were ” humanely dispatched” in Hong Kong over the past two years, with the government citing the need to reduce “nuisance” caused by the wild animals.

Responding to a lawmaker’s questions in the Legislative Council on Wednesday, Secretary for Environment  and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said that the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) had deployed more CCTV cameras and installed new trapping devices in 2023 to more efficiently capture the wild boars.

The number of boars killed rose last year, with 41 wild pigs “humanely dispatched” on average per month, a 70 per cent increase from the monthly average of 24 in 2022.

Hong Kong’s population of wild boars was around 1,360 last year, a decline of 26 per cent from 2022, when there were 1,830.

Tse said in LegCo that authorities had installed 100 infrared cameras across the city to document the animals’ numbers and patterns of occurrence.

Since November 2021, the government has dropped its long-standing trap, neuter, return (TNR) policy, which stipulated that wild pigs in urban areas were captured and returned to the wild.

The policy change came after a police officer was bitten by a wild boar in Tin Hau. In 2021, authorities received 20 reports of people being injured by boars, a sharp increase from the number in 2020, when just three were injured.

Local media outlet reported in November 2021 that AFCD officers had used bait to lure boars to be killed, triggering criticism from the public and animal rights groups, who called it an “abhorrent” move.

Tse said, since the policy change, AFCD had regularly conducted operations to capture and “humanely dispatch” wild pigs in urban and rural areas where the animals have been sighted, human injuries have occurred, or the boars’ presence may pose potential risks to the public.

In 2013, former chief of food and health Ko Wing-man said in response to pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo’s question that AFCD injected general anaesthetics to euthanise the animals. The injection was normally performed first in the thigh or buttock muscle and then in the heart, in the presence of at least one field officer and one veterinary officer.

Human feeding

According to the government, “human feeding activities are one of the root causes of wild pig nuisance.”

Earlier this year, authorities sought to change the city’s wild animal protection laws to raise the maximum penalty for illegally feeding wild animals to HK$100,000 and imprisonment for one year. The amendment will come into effect in August if it passes the opposition-free legislature.

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Hong Kong’s Ocean Park has christened a 1.9-metre crocodile found last April in Yuen Long “Passion,” following a public vote on its name.

The theme park announced the crocodile’s name at a ceremony on Tuesday. The name Passion received the most votes in a Facebook poll that also included Bo Bo, Harmony, Hope and Lotus.

Ocean Park said that the crocodile, which is estimated to be around four year old, will be living in a new facility next to the park’s entrance, meaning that members of the public would not have to pay to see it.

The park added that the name Passion is short for passionfruit, the Cantonese term for which is similar to Pat Heung, where the reptile was discovered last April.

“This connection emphasises the energetic nature of the crocodile, captured by the word ‘Passion,’” the park said in a press release announcing the poll.

“Furthermore, ‘Passion’ represents the Park’s dedication to ecological conservation upon the crocodile’s arrival.”

Last April, the crocodile was transferred from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) to Ocean Park after residents in Yuen Long reported the wild animal to authorities.

The park said then that the crocodile was female, measuring approximately 1.9 metre in length and weighing around 35 kg. It added that the crocodile’s species was not native to Hong Kong.

Paulo Pong, the chairperson of Ocean Park, said during Tuesday’s ceremony that he hoped visitors could become aware of the risks that foreign animal species could bring to the city’s ecological system, local media outlets reported.

Speaking at the same event, Mickey Lai, a deputy director at the AFCD, said he hoped the crocodile would become “an ambassador” promoting ecological preservation and diversity. It would also remind residents to care about animals and not to smuggle or illegally keep endangered species.

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By Michael Boyle & Victoria Amaral

Hong Kong has struggled to return tourism to pre-covid levels, leading to the government seeking novel strategies for enticing visitors back to the city. One of the recent suggestions is the staging of monthly fireworks displays over Victoria Harbour at the cost of HK$1 million per show, which the government hopes will persuade tourists to “stay an extra night.”

Whether or not the questionable strategy proves successful in terms of visitor satisfaction, we can be sure of one thing: its negative impact on local wildlife. 

Research has shown that birds take flight en masse in response to fireworks displays in Europe. This has also been demonstrated in the USA, where scientists used radar to document 1,000 times more birds flying during firework displays on New Year’s Eve than would be expected normally.

Birds have also been recorded flying so far out to sea during fireworks displays that it would be impossible for them to make it back to shore. These effects are not localised, with significant disruption being caused to bird communities up to 10 kilometres away from the displays themselves.

Being stimulated to fly in the evening when they would otherwise be roosting is likely to be particularly harmful, as it drastically increases the chances of collision with buildings or encounters with predators. Moreover, it is known that noise pollution affects the breeding success of a wide variety of species, and monthly displays mean that it is inevitable that there will be impacts during breeding and migration seasons. 

Marine animals are also incredibly sensitive to sound. Hong Kong is home to an important population of Chinese white dolphins, also called pink dolphins for the blush appearance they acquire as adults. These unique mammals hunt in the murky waters spilling out from mouth of the Pearl River and rely on echo location and sound to hunt and communicate. It has been well documented that noise pollution negatively affects these dolphins, and firework displays directly over the ocean are likely to cause significant distress.

Hong Kong’s current dolphin population is expected to stand at around 2,500 individuals, however, the numbers of young dolphins have been in steady decline in recent years. Experts predict that this worrying trend may be related to increases in marine traffic noise during breeding seasons, and any increase to existing noise pollution would almost certainly exacerbate this phenomenon. 

Beyond the effects on wildlife, fireworks displays are known to cause significant distress to household pets including cats and dogs. Hong Kong is a city of pet lovers, with around 35 per cent of the population sharing their home with at least one animal.

Fireworks are among the most common cause of fear and anxiety responses in domestic dogs, which is considered a significant welfare concern.

The unexpected and particularly loud noises of fireworks can elicit responses such as trembling, salivating, hiding, destructive behaviours, loss of appetite and barking. It has also been shown that fireworks generate elevated levels of stress hormones such as cortisol in pets, which can lead to increased inflammation and general health concerns. 

Locals will be up all night

Unwanted noise is irritating, but for people living close to the harbour, it can also have negative health impacts. Close to the display, firework shows can reach up to 150 decibels or louder, which can lead to hearing damage in children and adults. Low frequency sounds, primarily from the boom, can travel much farther and have been shown to create sleep disruption and increase irritation.

But noise is not the only pollutant from fireworks. Large levels of particulate matter are also released into the atmosphere after a firework show, which are inhaled before settling on the landscape and in waterways. Particulate matter is harmful to respiratory and cardiovascular systems, and long term exposure is linked to early death.

A study from the US showed that an annual holiday fireworks display caused air pollution to spike 42 per cent – a short-lived but substantial amount. Unfortunately for Hong Kong, monthly fireworks may also coincide with bad air pollution days during the dry season, which will only  worsen the local air quality. 

Given these well-known and obvious problems, it begs the question; who exactly was involved in the consultation process for this decision? The government has its own Environmental Protection Department which pledges to “administer robust environmental impact assessment in the planning of major projects.” Was there any environmental impact assessment? If so, will it be made public?

There is also the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, whose job it is to “Conserve our natural environment and safeguard ecological integrity.” Did any of the trained conservation scientists and ecologists within AFCD raise concerns about the animal welfare issues related to monthly fireworks displays?

It is clear that people will have many questions about the decision making process behind these events but the biggest question of all remains; is all of this worth it just for a small number of tourists to “stay an extra night”?

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Animal rights groups have slammed an international fur trade show in Hong Kong as putting animal cruelty “on full display.” The city’s role as a re-export hub for fur was “against the global trend,” an activist said.

Around ten activists staged a protest in Wan Chai on Thursday, which marked the opening of the 2024 Hong Kong International Fur & Fashion Fair at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).

Demonstrators from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Fur Free Hong Kong and Animal Rights Education by NPV (ARE by NPV) posed as captive animals inside metal wire cages. They held signs reading “Animals suffer on fur farms” and chanted slogans including “Fur is murder.”

“Callousness and cruelty are on full display at Hong Kong’s fur fair, where every coat, piece of trim, or trinket made of fur comes from an animal who endured a terrifying and painful death,” PETA Senior Vice President Jason Baker said in a statement released on Thursday.

The group called on people to fill their closets with vegan materials and end what they described as the “disgraceful” fur industry.

According to the Hong Kong Fur Federation website, the four-day convention features fur and leather garments, fur skins, furrier’s accessories, pelts and machinery.

Wendy Chan, founder of Fur Free Hong Kong, told HKFP on Thursday that the organiser was “not transparent” with the trade show information. The number of exhibitors and their country or region of origin was not available to the public, she said.

Tang went on to say that Hongkongers had a “high awareness” of the issues with the fur trade, and very few people would purchase such products. Although Hong Kong was not a key retail market for fur, the city served as centre for fur products to be reexported elsewhere, he said.

“The problem with Hong Kong is that it still wants to be a trading hub, which is against the global trend,” he said in Cantonese of the industry.

Another activist Louis Ng said many countries and regions have gradually halted production and retail lines for fur products. Fur was not a necessity, she added.

“In a modern society, people’s awareness about the protection of animals is heightened. Why should we advocate for such an industry in this civilised era?” the senior public relations and advocacy executive at ARE by NPV said in Cantonese.

HKFP reached out to the fur federation for comment.

According to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), Hong Kong was the sixth largest fur clothing exporter in the world in 2021. Most of the local furriers had set up production facilities in mainland China or in Southeast Asian countries, the research published in last May read.

Re-exports accounted for almost all fur clothing exports from Hong Kong, with mainland China being the origin of more than 80 per cent of the fur clothing exported from the city.

“[F]ur traders remain very active in Hong Kong, specialising in trade‑related services such as sales and marketing, quality control, logistic arrangement and fur design,” the HKTDC report read.

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An explosion of butterfly sightings in Hong Kong may be linked to the unusually warm winter weather, experts have suggested, with habitat loss also leading to more frequent sightings in the city.

Red-base Jezebel butterflies, or Delias pasithoe, have been spotted – often motionless – around country parks, as well as urban areas, with social media users concerned about a mass “die off.”

Director of the Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum Benoit Guénard told HKFP that butterflies, like all insects, cannot regulate their internal temperatures and rely on the environment to do so. “In the morning they may start flying while being warmed up by a few sunrays, but are then quickly short in energy, allowing them to land whenever they can (often in the shade),” Guénard told HKFP by email on Thursday.

“Many people then think they are dead (or dying) but if you gently pick them up, close your hands and blow hot air in for 10-20 seconds, you will see the butterfly taking off again and flying happily,” he said, adding that many end up being crushed in the process of warming up as people walked by.

Guénard said the adult lifespan of a red-base Jezebel was a few days or weeks, and their population appeared healthy, with eggs, caterpillars and chrysalis easily found.

“[A]lternated periods of cooling and mild weather… may have generated several waves of adult activities during the [dry season],” Guénard said, adding that it was not possible to conclude that the climate crisis was to blame.

Urbanisation threat

Timothy C. Bonebrake – a professor at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Biological Sciences – shared a graph of red-base Jezebel sightings with HKFP, suggesting an “anomaly” this year.

“We have indeed had a warmer than usual winter and my best guess is that the large numbers… we’re seeing are related to this,” he said by email on Thursday.

“[T]hese species are facing an array of challenges to their survival including habitat loss through urbanization and climate change,” he said.

He added that what may be perceived as a “mass die-off,” could also be a case of “mass birthing.”

But Bonebrake also expressed concern over the number of “disoriented” red-base Jezebels seen in the city. “Anytime we see a butterfly on the street, we can categorically define it as
unnatural. This always strikes me; how difficult it can be for animals in Hong Kong to traverse our complex urban landscape,” he said.

“This winter we’re seeing the phenomena at a much higher level and their presence in unfamiliar circumstances should serve as a reminder to everyone that we share this city with a wild and diverse community of plants and animals.”

He said the late boom in numbers could “affect pollination in complicated ways.” Additionally, Bonebrake said a colleague had noted a lower abundance of migrant birds in Hong Kong, which eat the red-base Jezebels.

The Hong Kong Observatory said January saw a monthly mean temperature of 17.9 degrees Celsius – 1.4 degrees above normal, and one of the sixth warmest Januarys on record.

“January 2024 was overall warmer than usual in Hong Kong despite a very cold episode in the latter part of the month,” it said in a February 2 press release.

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A rare snow-white sparrow has caught the attention of Hong Kong birdwatchers and photographers in Sai Ying Pun.

HKFP’s photographer, Kyle Lam, captured the elusive white-featured bird alongside some of its more common counterparts in Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park.

The bird could have a genetic condition known as leucism, whereby a lack of melanin pigment results in a partial white appearance. There is also a chance the striking plumage is a result of albinism, though few sparrows survive with the condition.

Yahoo News reported that several dozen observers have been coming to the park in recent days, though the bird appeared to be undisturbed.

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The Hong Kong Pet Show opened on Thursday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, in Wan Chai, featuring more than 650 booths, over 200 exhibitors, and plenty of furry friends.

Countless cats and canines were at the exhibition’s opening day on Thursday, with their owners perusing the pet food and supplies on offer. The event, which runs until Sunday, also features “international-level pet competitions and events,” including pet beauty pageants, according to a Thursday statement.

Carl Wong, chairman of the organiser Exhibition Group, said in the statement that: “Over the past decade, the government has made considerable efforts in promoting a pet-friendly city, and pet-friendliness is one of the factors considered for attracting overseas talents to Hong Kong. Over the 18 years, the Hong Kong Pet Show has grown alongside the industry, becoming a major event in the field.”

Words by Shan Chan.

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A photo exhibition capturing marine life in Hong Kong waters, from colourful corals to iridescent fish, has attracted nearly 700 entries this year. 

A celebration of the city’s marine biodiversity, the Hong Kong Underwater Photo and Video Competition 2023 – organised jointly by the Hong Kong government’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and the Hong Kong Underwater Association – concluded in December.

The selected works are being featured at four roving exhibitions in December and January, with details available here.

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Every winter, dozens of black-faced spoonbills, an endangered large wading bird species, fly a long way from the freezing north to enjoy a warm winter in Hong Kong.

According to the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society (HKBWS), there were 78 black-faced spoonbills in the fishpond wetlands of San Tin in early 2023, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of the total population in the city. Currently, there are around 6,000 black-faced spoonbills in the world.

However, the migratory birds might not be able to find their winter habitat next year. San Tin, an area in the northwest of Hong Kong near the border with mainland China, will soon be redeveloped into a large-scale “technopole” – part of authorities’ ambition to build Hong Kong’s Silicon Valley.

The proposed San Tin Technopole, which covers 627 hectares,  including some 300 hectares for tech purposes and more than 50,000 homes. Adjacent to the mainland Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, the area is also supposed to create synergy with the city across the border.

According to the government, the reclamation of land will begin as early as the fourth quarter of 2024.

When the concept was first raised, it covered a development area of 175 hectares and no wetland.

It was not until May 2023 that authorities revealed the tech hub had been enlarged to over 600 hectares, resulting in the damage of 248 hectares of wetland conservation area and buffer zones.

According to HKBWS records, those wetlands, which exist as fishponds, grassland and peatland, are home to 205 bird species, including 19 that are globally endangered, such as the black-faced spoonbills.

Animals protected on a national level have also been seen there, including the Eastern imperial eagle, the greater spotted eagle and Cinereous vulture.

According to a study by the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), there are at least seven Eurasian otters in Hong Kong. The endangered species lives in wetlands in the northwest side of Hong Kong, which includes San Tin.

“This development neglects not only ecology, but also the fishpond operators who have been managing the San Tin fishponds for the past half century,” Yu Yat-Tung, director of HKBWS, said during a media tour of the Sin Tin wetlands last Tuesday.

Lam Chiu-Ying, former director of the Hong Kong Observatory and honorary president of HKBWS, said during the tour that the proposed development plan contradicted China’s policy of “ecological civilization” and “high-quality development.”

Lam told reporters that the government’s plan would expose Hong Kong to higher risks of multiple flooding incidents in the future, as wetlands worked as natural reservoirs, reserving waters during flooding.

In June, nine environmental concern groups issued a joint statement condemning the authorities’ plan for Sin Tin, saying it would damage the vast wetlands. The groups include HKBWS, WWF, Greenpeace, Green Power, the Conservancy Association, Green Earth, Greeners Action, Green Sense, and Designing Hong Kong.

They also criticised the government for not submitting the updated the project profile of the San Tin development plan to the Environmental Protection Department when it applied for an environmental impact assessment in May 2021.

The government launched a public consultation on the San Tin Technopole in June. The consultation lasted for two months. There was no public forum for debate, only exhibitions in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

Additional reporting: Irene Chan

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Hong Kong-based travel firm Klook is continuing to promote attractions that feature wild animals for performances or force them to interact with tourists despite a new animal welfare policy enacted last month, HKFP has found.

A search on Klook on Monday found activities including dolphin shows, tiger encounters, elephant bathing and other attractions around the world that animal rights activists have long condemned as exploitative.

In an emailed response to HKFP, Klook defended its offerings and said it was committed to helping “build a responsible tourism community and improve the lives of animals in the travel industry.”

“Our approach is to continually work with operators to encourage long-term and sustainable change, which not only takes into consideration animal welfare but also communities who are directly impacted by the industry,” a Klook spokesperson said.

“One example is elephant tourism in Thailand which comes with a cultural and religious heritage, and involves local communities and their livelihoods,” the statement added.

Earlier this year, the travel company vowed to end ticketing for some animal attractions. Under its new policy, situations where wild animals were sedated or baited, as well as circuses, shows and performances during which animals were forced to perform unnatural behaviour, are also banned.

Klook said the policy would be enacted on October 31.

According to international NGO World Animal Protection, the tourism industry plays a significant role in the continuation of captive wildlife entertainment by boasting close interactions with animals, wild animal performances and other attractions.

“Travel agencies, associations, tour operators and booking platforms promoting and selling wildlife entertainment venues lead tourists to assume such activities are acceptable, or even beneficial for wild animals, when in fact they are inhumane and cause lifelong harm to wildlife,” the NGO wrote in a February report.

‘Failing wildlife’

Klook’s updated policy came amid pressure from animal welfare NGO the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which in October shared a video that appeared to show horse and camel carcasses outside a tourist site in Egypt.

While camel-riding activities in Egypt are listed as “currently unavailable” on Klook’s website, the company continues to offer camel rides in places including Dubai, Marrakesh in Morocco, and Cappadocia in Turkey.

When asked for comment last week, PETA withheld criticism for Klook.

“PETA is applauding Klook for introducing a new animal welfare policy, and we commend the travel operator for agreeing not to promote or sell tickets for exploitative animal rides at Egypt’s pyramids following communications with PETA earlier this year,” a statement from PETA read.

“We continue to work with Klook to improve its policy, and we are actively engaging with travel agencies around the world to discourage their support of any form of abuse in the tourism industry,” the company said, adding that people should leave animals out of their travel plans.

It did not respond to specific questions on Klook’s continued offering of activities that may fall foul of its new policy.

Earlier this year, World Animal Protection called Klook one of the companies that were “severely failing wildlife” but commended it when it updated its animal welfare policy.

Other travel companies also named as “severely failing wildlife” by the NGO included operators Get Your Guide, Traveloka, Trip.com and TUI Musement.

In response to HKFP, a campaign manager at the NGO, Caterina Scuderi, said Klook’s policy was “welcome news” but did not respond directly to the fact that the company was continuing to offer activities that have been criticised by animal rights activists.

“We will continue to encourage the company to truly become wildlife-friendly by removing all cruel wildlife attractions and close encounters with wild animals from their platform, including elephant bathing and feeding,” Scuderi said.

“Wild animals are sentient beings, and it is time to end holidays that harm them for commercial profits. Every year, thousands of wild animals are brutally ripped from their mothers or bred in captivity to perform unnatural and demeaning activities for tourist entertainment.”

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Hong Kong police have alleged that scammers are touting dog meat sales in order to lure people into downloading a malicious mobile app. The police received 11 reports from apparent victims claiming to have lost over HK$1.36 million in total.

During a press conference on Monday, Ip Cheuk-yu, acting superintendent of the cyber security and technology crime bureau, said that two social media pages claiming to sell “fragrant meat” were connected to a scam involving the use of bogus apps designed to remotely control victim’s phones and steal banking credentials.

There is no evidence any dog meat was available, police said, and scammers may have hoped to lure animal lovers into investigating the illicit offerings.

As of last week, at least two Facebook pages were found to be advertising the sale of suspected dog meat for HK$328 per kilogram. In one of the ads, a cartoon dog is seen next to two pots of meat under a Chinese-language caption which says “fresh and delicious fragrant meat” – a colloquial term for dog meat.

The editing history, however, revealed that the post explicitly mentioned “dog meat” in a previous version. It sparked close to 5,000 angry reactions from Facebook users as of Monday, with many tagging the authorities in the comment section.

Malicious apps

“According to a police investigation, the use of the malicious apps involved in stealing people’s savings emerged as early as September,” Ip said in Cantonese.

He said fraudsters set up Facebook and Instagram pages promoting food, travel plans, and car rental services. Potential buyers were asked to install a mobile app designed to look like an e-commerce platform, which would request security permissions to control users’ phones. It also presented a fraudulent login page resembling those of banks.

He added that the e-commerce platform had frequently altered its name, using variations such as “No. One e-commerce”, “Hong Kong-Macau e-commerce”, and “88 Grocery Store”.

Since mid-September, police received reports from 11 people regarding the alleged scam. Nine of them reported losses between HK$9,000 and HK$415,000, totalling more than HK$1.36 million. No one has been arrested so far, Ip said.

The largest loss was suffered by a man in his sixties, who came across an advertisement for “decent-priced” instant noodles on social media, Ip said. The man downloaded the malware and later discovered that his savings had been transferred without his consent.

Police Chief Inspector Lau Ngo-chung said that the apps would request “full-access” to users’ phones. Once granted, the fraudsters could remotely unlock and manipulate the device, even when it appeared to be locked.

He said that, after victims made orders via the apps, they would also be directed to a fake payment page and asked to enter their banking credentials.

Lau urged the public not to download apps from unauthorised parties and to avoid granting excessive permissions to apps. He also advised potential victims to restore their phones to factory settings.

According to police data, fraud-related crime in Hong Kong has risen since the Covid-19 pandemic begun in 2020. In the first half of this year, there were 18,743 cases reported to the police, higher than the whole-year figure in 2020 and close to that in 2021. In 2022, there were 27,923 cases, a record high.

The AFCD issued a statement on Sunday, saying it had noted advertisements for suspected dog meat and had launched an investigation.

The slaughtering of dog and cat for food, or the sale of their flesh, is illegal in Hong Kong. Offenders could face a maximum fine of HK$5,000 and up to six months in prison.

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Hong Kong is seeking to change the city’s wild animal protection laws to raise the maximum penalty for illegal feral pigeon feeding to HK$100,000 and imprisonment for one year. The proposed penalty would take effect next August, subject to approval by the legislature.

The government on Friday published the Wild Animals Protection (Amendment) Bill 2023 , which intends to enhance the deterrence against illegal feeding activities, protect wild animals and improve environmental hygiene.

Under the proposed legal amendments, the animal feeding ban would be expanded to cover feral pigeons. Anyone convicted of feeding them illegally could face up to a year behind bars and a fine 10 times higher than the existing HK$10,000 penalty.

The bill included a new fixed penalty system for illegal animal feeding, with the amount being set at HK$5,000. It also sought to widen the ambit of law enforcement.

“Feeding of wild animals and feral pigeons will affect their ability to forage and survive on their own in the wild, and constitute public hygiene and other issues,” an English statement from the Environment and Ecology Bureau read.

The bill is set to be tabled at the legislature for first reading on November 29. If the bill is passed, it would take effect on August 1 next year.

Contraceptive trial programme

In September 2021, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) launched a two-year trial programme of using contraceptive drugs on feral pigeons at their congregation spots at the Ma Tau Wai Road/Ma Hang Chung Road Rest Garden and outside the Kennedy Town and Hang Hau MTR stations.

The programme aimed to test the effectiveness of the use of contraceptive drugs in reducing nuisance caused by the pigeons, the government said at the time. The AFCD said it would announce the progress of the trial programme in due course and decide whether or not to expand it to other areas.

Felix Chow, spokesman for the Democratic Party on policies concerning animal protection, said on Friday that the two-year trial programme was completed and the government should report to the public on the effectiveness of the programme.

“[The government should] let citizens know whether the plan to control the growth of pigeon populations in Hong Kong is appropriate, and determine whether to extend the plan to different communities,” Chow wrote in a Chinese statement.

He added he hoped government personnel would step up law enforcement actions against illegal feeding after the bill was passed and not let the laws become a “mere formality.”

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By Jing Xuan Teng in Suzhou, China

When Han Jiali’s beloved cat Dabai was taken from her Shanghai home last year, she embarked on a hunt for her pet that took her deep into the bowels of China’s underground feline meat trade.

Most people in China do not eat cat meat, but an estimated four million furry friends are slaughtered for food each year in an illegal market that includes areas of Guangdong province, neighbouring Guangxi and beyond, according to Humane Society International.

Han, who has spent thousands of dollars and weeks at a time tracking cat meat traders through China, has uncovered a supply chain preying on urban strays and outdoor pets in the region surrounding Shanghai.

Her quest to find Dabai led her to grimy processing plants in Guangdong, where she saw skinned cat carcasses piled in crates and sacks of fur.

She found village restaurants that openly advertised cat meat and unscrupulous sellers who passed it off as mutton or rabbit.

“I had to admit then that my cat was gone,” an emotional Han told AFP.

“She had been eaten.”

Now she is determined to save other cats from the same fate and has spent the past year filing police reports, tracking down thieves and sending petitions to the Guangdong government.

It’s a dangerous mission that she says has resulted in death threats from cat meat traders and an incident in December where a man deliberately drove into her car at a highway rest stop.

“I’ve gotten scared and thought about turning away and pretending I never saw all this,” she said.

“But if I disappear, and stay silent, who will save (the cats) from this miserable situation?”

Underground industry

The 33-year-old Han is one of a small but dedicated number of people in China fighting the abuse of pet cats and dogs in the absence of broader institutional protections for domestic animals.

The capture of a free-roaming family pet outdoors is not considered theft in China.

And while the law prohibits the consumption of cats, violators are fined on food safety grounds rather than punished for animal cruelty.

Activists and even state media commentators have increasingly called for legislators to adopt an animal cruelty law to close a loophole not covered by existing wild animal and livestock rules.

“I’m just an ordinary person, my abilities are limited,” Han said.

Last month, she and other animal rescuers, with the help of local police, intercepted a truck carrying hundreds of cats out of Zhangjiagang, near Shanghai.

“They were collecting (trapped) cats inside a cemetery,” she told AFP.

“Observing them, we quickly learned that they planned to illegally sell the captured kitties.”

Han said she and the other activists spent a sleepless night staking out the cemetery before a truck appeared in the morning to take away dozens of tiny bamboo crates crammed with around 800 cats.

Police and the animal rescuers stopped the truck, and the cats were rushed to a shelter in the town of Taicang, an hour away from Shanghai.

Cat island

There the animals were taken in by Mengtaiqi Cat and Dog Manor, a small family-run shelter in a marshy area popular with anglers.

Gu Ming, a 45-year-old former pharmaceutical industry professional who lives at the shelter with his wife, told AFP that many of the cats rescued in Zhangjiagang had their limbs crushed under the weight of hundreds of animals.

Dozens have died so far from injuries and viral infections that spread rapidly among the closely packed, distressed animals, he said.

Volunteers at the shelter isolated sick animals in makeshift quarantine cages and called in vets to vaccinate and sterilize the healthier cats.

Eventually, after weeks of treatment and isolation, a first batch of rescues was moved to a large outdoor enclosure with trees and rows of blanket-lined beds.

Gu covers the shelter’s expenses out of his own pocket and only accepts non-cash donations such as equipment and kibble, seeking to avoid the public distrust that fundraisers often attract in China.

He plans to move all the cats onto a small island near a local temple, which is currently dotted with tiny huts and home to a few dozen felines previously rescued by the shelter.

The island’s four-legged residents flocked to greet Gu this month as he crossed the gated bridge that keeps the cats in.

At midday, the animals lolled on the grass and napped under trees — an idyllic existence a far cry from the cramped meat truck crates.

Gu said he was moved by the many animal lovers who had offered help after seeing state media reports about the Zhangjiagang cats.

But still, he said: “We have to push for national legislation, because depending on individuals or a few groups is not realistic”.

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Hong Kong on Friday added two major shark families to a list of endangered animals whose trade in the city will be tightly controlled under CITES regulations.

The city is one of the world’s largest markets for shark fin, which is viewed by many Chinese communities as a delicacy and often served as a soup at expensive banquets.

Its trade is regulated under an international treaty on endangered species that requires export permits proving it was sustainably captured.

CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) — the treaty’s governing body — approved in November a plan to include the requiem shark and the hammerhead shark families on their list, which includes more than 50 species.

Hong Kong amended its list of endangered species “to give effect to the latest regulations of CITES on the controlled species”, a spokesman for the city’s agriculture, fisheries and conservation department said on Friday.

The new protected species list includes the two shark families, as well as various types of turtles and stingrays, according to the statement.

Domestic consumption has shrunk after years of activist campaigning, but Hong Kong remains a vital trade hub for shark fins — both legal and illegal — headed for the Chinese mainland and Southeast Asia.

Marine experts in Hong Kong say the majority of shark fins consumed in the city are blue sharks — which are part of the requiem family.

“Before the two families were covered, around 20 percent of the shark fins imported to Hong Kong were under control. But now with the two families, up to 90 percent would come under control,” Stan Shea, marine programme director for the BLOOM Association, told AFP.

He added that effective regulation would depend on the government training up frontline officers on the visual inspection and DNA examination of the fins, in order to identify the protected species.

Marine biologists estimate that more than 100 million sharks are killed each year, pushing vital apex predators towards extinction and ocean ecosystems to the brink of collapse.

Those killed for their fins have the appendage sliced from their bodies before being thrown back into the sea, where they suffer a slow death.

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By Anuj Chopra with Tommy Wang

Chomping peacefully on a fruitsicle cake in her grassy Washington zoo enclosure Mei Xiang is blissfully unaware that she and a handful of other cute pandas are at the centre of a ferocious misinformation campaign driving anti-US sentiment in China.

Evidence-free claims that pandas have been abused at US zoos have ricocheted across Chinese social media in recent months, fanning anti-American perceptions amid already fraught ties between Washington and Beijing.

The falsehoods, which researchers say were amplified by clout-chasing influencers, have cast a shadow on Beijing’s “panda diplomacy,” the decades-old practice of gifting or loaning the bears to other countries as a token of friendship.

In multiple posts on Chinese platforms including Weibo and Douyin, a video fuelled the narrative that Mei Xiang was abused by the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington DC and made to undergo a painful artificial insemination procedure dozens of times.

The posts triggered impassioned pleas for the panda to be rescued and returned to China, with the hashtag “Save Mei Xiang” viewed on Weibo hundreds of millions of times.

But according to AFP factcheckers, the video actually shows a different male panda in Singapore undergoing a health check-up in 2015, a story widely reported by local media at the time.

In other posts on the same platforms, an image purported to show Mei Xiang’s mate, Tian Tian, sedated and restrained during an examination.

But the photo actually depicts a panda in China’s Fujian province undergoing an examination in 2005, according to the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab).

Rooted in nationalism

“Amid increased competition between the US and China, the deterioration of US-China relations is now echoed in Chinese narratives” alleging the mistreatment of pandas, the DFRLab said in a report last month.

“The narratives are deeply rooted in Chinese nationalism and mistrust of the West and have been amplified across Chinese media and social media.”

Last week, AFP journalists in Washington saw Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, seemingly healthy and devouring frozen treats in their enclosures as the zoo hosted a nine-day “Panda Palooza” celebration with panda-themed refreshments, film screenings and music concerts.

The zoo, which declined to comment on the online misinformation, held the party to bid farewell to the bears and their three-year-old cub Xiao Qi Ji, who will be returning to China in December as its contract with the Chinese government expires.

Another panda named Ya Ya was returned to China by the Memphis zoo in April after its loan agreement ended. This followed uproar from Chinese activists and social media users who accused the zoo of abusing her.

Many also blamed the zoo for the death of Ya Ya’s mate, Le Le, with accusations swirling online — despite no evidence — that zookeepers had stabbed the bear and sold his eyeball.

The zoo vigorously rejected what it said was “misinformation.” The Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens also backed the zookeepers, saying in a joint statement that the bears at the Memphis zoo had received “excellent care.”

But that did little to quell the nationalist outrage.

Fan those flames

China’s state-linked Global Times, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, linked the controversy over Ya Ya to US-China geopolitical tensions.

“If this had not happened during a period when Washington is intensifying its containment and suppression of China, this matter would not have caused such a stir,” it said in an editorial in March.

Amid tense relations between the two biggest economies over issues such as Taiwan, US observers say the Chinese government appears keen to condone and encourage anti-American sentiment.

“Misinformation around panda treatment is an example of a convenient way to fan those flames,” Isaac Stone Fish, chief executive of China-focused data company Strategy Risks, told AFP.

The misinformation not only bred mistrust about the United States in China but also sparked fervent calls to suspend the panda exchange, potentially closing what DFRLab called one of the few avenues of cooperation between the two countries.

Aside from Washington and Memphis, the zoos in San Diego and Atlanta have either returned or are set to return their pandas to China by next year. Without China’s extension of the loan agreement, US zoos face the prospect of having no pandas for the first time in 50 years.

“This (misinformation) campaign is particularly sad given the ways in which ‘panda diplomacy’ previously played such a crucial role in helping to foster positive relations between China and the West,” Darren Linvill, a professor at Clemson University, told AFP.

It is, he added, “an unfortunate sign of the current state of relations between powers.”

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The government has urged Hongkongers not to pursue another whale that apparently entered Hong Kong’s southern waters this week.

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said the creature was spotted, but then disappeared, following a sighting by the Government Flying Service on Monday evening.

It comes after a whale was spotted in Sai Kung in July, attracting tourist hire boats. It later died, with evidence of propeller-related injuries.

In a Monday press release, an AFCD spokesperson said: “Members of the public should not go on boat trips to watch or pursue whales sighted in Hong Kong waters. In case whales are spotted at sea, they should keep a distance of no less than 100 metres, slow down their vessels and leave as soon as possible. Otherwise, government officers may take enforcement action.”

The AFCD added that it was consulting local and overseas experts to identify the whale’s species and condition, as well as what protection measures to take.

Marine experts appeared divided on what type of whale it might be. Local media outlets quoted a virtual autopsy lab based at the City University of Hong Kong suggesting it was a dwarf sperm whale. The chairman of Eco-Education and Resources Centre Ken Ching, however, said it was likely a pilot whale or a false killer whale.

‘Keep a safe distance’

The Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong (OPCFHK) said in a press release that their team – along with a government team – had searched the area on Monday: “The cetacean was spotted above water briefly at around 6pm in Sham Shui Kok with the assistance of the Government Flying Service’s helicopter but vanished after a few minutes. The search team will continue their effort to locate the cetacean.”

It also urged the public not to approach the cetacean: “Those who spot it should keep a safe distance from it and call 1823 to report the sighting to AFCD.”

Cetaceans are protected by the Wild Animals Protection Ordinance. Whale watching behaviour may be considered a disturbance of protect animals, attracting a fine of up to HK$100,000 and a year behind bars.

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A water monitor lizard that escaped during a medical procedure at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) two weeks ago has been found safe-and-sound at the nature reserve.

A hiker spotted the Aberdeen the lizard on a hillside at around 1pm on Sunday, according to a Facebook statement from KFBG: “When he realised he had been spotted, he started to move quickly moved down the tree and ran along the terrace. Fortunately, a quick team member wearing thick gloves was able to capture and restrain Aberdeen before he managed to get too far.”

The 1.5-metre reptile was escorted by animal care staff to the on-site veterinary hospital for a check-up and was provided with water before being transferred to his original exhibition enclosure.

The lizard been a resident at KFBG in Lam Tsuen for eight years, after it was seized from the illegal pet trade.

“He appeared a bit dismayed about the sudden end to his adventure but once inside his familiar home seemed content that his walkabout was over. By 5 pm he was already interacting again with his enclosure mates. Aberdeen is in a mixed exhibit with several rescued tortoises and turtles, we expect they will have a lot of stories to share over the next couple of days!”

Water monitor lizards were once native to the city, feeding on rats, fish and carrion, but hunting and urban development drove them to extinction, according to KFBG.

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Hong Kong-based travel firm Klook has vowed to end ticketing for attractions which use wild animals for performances, or that force animals to interact with tourists, amid pressure from animal welfare NGO the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

Such tours still appeared to be on sale when HKFP checked on Wednesday, with the agency telling HKFP that its updated policy will be enacted on October 31.

In a Tuesday press release, PETA said that Klook had been promoting tours of the Egyptian pyramids that involved horses and camels that were subject to abuse. Footage shot by the US charity showed that “camels are routinely beaten with sticks and their legs are bound at Egypt’s notorious Birqash Camel Market, including one who was tied to the back of a truck and dragged through the street.” Other clips show horses with open wounds and untreated injuries.

However, following communication with PETA, Klook had agreed not to promote or sell tickets to such attractions, the NGO said.

PETA added that it was sending the company some vegan chocolates as a token of thanks.

“A major win for animals, Klook’s new policy encourages tourists to experience the splendour of the pyramids without climbing onto the backs of abused camels or relying on exhausted, injured horses for transportation,” said PETA Senior Vice President Jason Baker in the press statement. “PETA is applauding Klook for helping to save lives and inspire other tourism companies to abandon cruel practices.”

Animal experiences still available

Klook’s animal welfare policy, which is posted on its website, was first published in March and updated in June. It states that the company was committed to “helping to build a responsible tourism community and improve the lives of animals in the travel industry.”

The firm says it will not carry activities that involve trophy hunting and blood sports, or the consumption of wild animal products. Situations where wild animals are sedated or baited, as well as circuses, shows and performances where wild animals are forced to perform unnatural behaviour are also banned.

According to NGO World Animal Protection, the agency previously offered big cat and primate attractions across Asia.

When HKFP checked on Wednesday, camel tours in Giza appeared to be unavailable.

However, camel rides in Kobe, Japan, were still available for booking. Trips to monkey or elephant sanctuaries in Thailand were also remained on sale, as did experiences that involved swimming with wild or captive dolphins.

“Klook must go further,” Nicole Barrantes of World Animal Protection told travel news site Skift last Friday. “It must remove all wildlife attractions, including its elephant bathing and feeding offerings, which still involve significant cruelty behind the scenes.”

When asked by HKFP if the remaining listings were in compliance with Klook’s current policy on animal “circuses, shows and performances,” the agency said that updated guidelines “will officially come into effect on 31 October 2023.”

“Our approach is to continually work with operators to encourage long-term and sustainable change, with some necessary adjustments (which include the removal of non-compliant products) being made before end October 2023,” the spokesperson added.

“We are committed to helping to build a responsible tourism community and improve the lives of animals in the travel industry. We believe that the most joyful travel experiences are those where visitors can observe wildlife displaying their natural behaviours, in an environment that is safe for the animals and our customers.”

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Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden (KFBG) has urged Hongkongers to report sightings of a water monitor lizard which escaped from a temporary enclosure on the New Territories farm.

The 1.5-metre reptile, named Aberdeen, had been a resident at KFBG in Lam Tsuen for eight years, after it was seized from the illegal pet trade.

“He is not aggressive but should not be trapped or cornered as he is strong and will try to escape… His animal care staff miss him a lot as he has a special character, and some of them have known him for a long time,” the NGO said in a Facebook appeal.

It added that Aberdeen escaped whilst undergoing medical treatment for a damaged toe: “[H]e managed to push out a wooden panel and squeeze out through a small gap in the enclosure on Thursday… His escape has been reported to the authorities as we keep Aberdeen under a special licence linked to our wildlife rescue work at KFBG.”

The farm said it was concerned about the busy road adjacent to the property, though the animal was not a threat to humans. Sightings should be reported to 2483 7122 or 2483 7200, or fauna@kfbg.org.

Water monitor lizards were once native to the city, feeding on rats, fish and carrion, but hunting and urban development drove them to extinction, according to KFBG.

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A shimmering, 1.5-metre-long golden ballgown stood pride of place in a Shanghai exhibition hall Thursday — and for the cool price of US$13,700, your dog could be the lucky animal to leave Pet Fair Asia wearing it.

The plethora of luxury and sophisticated gadgets on display at the show, the region’s largest, is testament to the consumer power of China’s expanding class of young, tech-savvy pet owners.

From robot companions to AI-powered health-monitoring wearables, animal welfare is a lucrative industry — and if all else fails, cloning a beloved pet is also an option in China these days.

“If you have a puppy, it’s just like your own child,” a young dog owner named Song told AFP. “Anyone who has raised one knows… They hold a huge place in your heart.”

Pet ownership in China has soared, reaching nearly 100 million households in 2022.

Analysts have attributed the growth to younger generations, with Deloitte saying “changing views on family structure and an increase in single population” were a big reason for the boom.

“Young people are more individualistic, they don’t want to sacrifice their whole lives (raising children) like the previous generation, so they hope that by raising an animal they will immediately get that intimacy and warmth… but not spend as much time and energy,” said a young woman named Duan visiting the fair on Thursday.

And owners spend a lot of money on their furry family.

The $13,700 dog dress — which comes with a matching tiara — is hand-embroidered and designed for a canine wedding, stall manager Sun Chao told AFP, adding they usually got around a few dozen orders a year for such designs.

“The overall economic environment in our country in the past few years has not been very good, but the pet market is in a league of its own,” said Sun.

The industry is projected to grow 68 percent to 811 billion yuan ($112 billion) by 2025, according to iiMedia Research.

‘Together forever’ with tech

Pet Fair Asia is taking place over several days, with organisers saying its scale this year is unprecedented.

It features more than 2,000 exhibitors selling items as varied as tofu cat litter, desiccated treefrog snacks and dog doughnuts and macarons.

In a nod to the region’s intense work culture, remote surveillance devices were a common sight, allowing busy owners to monitor their pets from afar.

One US$169 robot can follow animals around, feed them, amuse them with a laser or broadcast their owner’s voice.

The next iteration will use artificial intelligence to help interpret the pet’s movements and react accordingly.

Technology is even being applied to overcoming death.

At Chinese company Sinogene’s stall, visitors crowded around a cage of identical frisky terriers wearing harnesses that read “I am a clone dog”.

The firm is one of the few in the world offering animal cloning services — enabling pets and their owners to be “together forever”, as its tagline states.

A representative named Dai told AFP they had cloned around 500 animals for Chinese customers since they began in 2017, including some for the country’s security services.

It costs between US$30,000 and US$60,000 to clone a dog, depending on its breed.

At the beginning, said Dai, the business was met with wariness from consumers.

“But with the development of the economy and people’s dependence on pets… people have slowly begun to familiarise themselves with and accept cloning,” he said.

While most of the show catered to cats and dogs, there were signs that more exotic tastes were beginning to take off.

Eager to appeal to pet lovers with cash to burn, an electric car company led an unimpressed-looking alpaca around as they gave out leaflets and stickers.

In one exhibition hall, a kaleidoscope of snakes squirmed in small plastic takeaway containers, and a small scrum formed around a box full of meerkats.

Meanwhile, a capybara studiously ignored showgoers’ overtures as it munched its way through its grass bedding.

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Dozens of monkeys were spotted swimming in a pool at a private club in Hong Kong, prompting the closure of the facility for cleaning.

According to a minute-long video that circulated online on Monday, at least 30 monkeys were seen at the swimming pool. Some were lounging poolside and climbing on the beach chairs nearby, while others were swimming. Two monkeys also appeared to be chasing each other.

A man is heard saying in the video that the pool was at Hill Top Country Club in Tsuen Wan. He said: “[It has] turned into a swimming pool for monkeys… they are so happy.”

A woman is also heard saying: “Oh no, how can [we] swim[in these pools now]?”

The pool was empty of humans, the video showed. The club’s website stated that the swimming pool opens at 2 pm on weekdays.

Closed for cleaning

In a Facebook post published at mid-day on Monday, Hill Top Country Club said: “The swimming pool is temporarily suspended due to the disinfection and cleaning until further notice. Please accept our apology for the inconvenience that may cause.”

According to its Facebook page, Hill Top Country Club is a private club in Lo Wai Village in Tsuen Wan. The club offers guest rooms, restaurants and sports facilities including a golf driving range and a tennis court.

The club is located about two kilometres from Shing Mun Reservoir, which is known for its population of wild monkeys.

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A whale carcass has been seen in Hong Kong waters, according to police, adding that the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) and Marine Police were investigating the incident.

Police received a report that the carcass of a whale had been spotted to the south of Shelter Island on Monday. Further details will be released later, police said.

HKFP has reached out to the AFCD to enquire about follow-up actions and the possible cause of the marine mammal’s death.

A Bryde’s whale was first spotted in the waters near Sai Kung in mid-July, attracting many people who hoped to see the animal for themselves, with boats offering rides to approach it. Conservation groups urged the public to maintain their distance and not surround the animal with boats, as that may affect its ability to return to open waters.

Last Tuesday, local media reported that the whale had sustained injuries on its back, possibly caused by a propeller.

The animal was spotted with a cut on its back, with the injury suspected to have been caused by a sharp object such as a boat propeller, said Lydia Pang, senior manager of Oceans Conservation of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) on Commercial Radio on Wednesday.

Whales were known to stop hunting and remain in shallow waters if under pressure, Pang said. The fact that it had stayed in the city’s waters might already demonstrate that it was feeling unwell, she added.

When the whale was first seen, the World Wide Fund for Nature said Bryde’s whales were usually found in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Some may pass through the city during their migration, or it may have gotten lost or fallen sick.

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Boat tour operators are not willing to risk breaking the law by continuing to hold whale-watching tours, after Hongkongers were urged on Wednesday to stop approaching the injured animal spotted in Sai Kung.

“[U]pon sighting of whales, the public is reminded that they should keep a distance, slow down their vessels and be aware of their personal safety to avoid accidents,” said a spokesperson for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department on Wednesday.

The marine mammal, believed to be a Bryde’s whale, was first spotted on July 13 in Sai Kung near Millionaire’s Beach. Since the whale sighting, Hongkongers – and journalists – flocked to the seaside town in the hope of spotting the whale, with boats in the area offering rides to approach it.

AFCD patrols

On Thursday, Sai Kung’s boat tour operators were manning stalls along the waterfront with colourful price lists, as skippers prepared their vessels under the sweltering heat for island-hopping speedboat trips.

One fishing tour operator, surnamed Leung, told HKFP that she knew of speedboat tours that headed out to sea for whale-watching tours over the past few days.

While she said the operator she worked for, Sai Kung Fishing Fun Point, did not offer those tours, she still received a pamphlet from AFCD officers who were at the pier that morning to warn operators and skippers against seeking out the whale.

“[AFCD officers] were here this morning, walking along the pier and handing out these leaflets to boat tour operators,” she said in Cantonese. “But I’m not at risk anyway, since I don’t do those tours.”

The leaflet for the “Code of Conduct for Dolphin Watching Activities,” dated May 2019, stated that the general rule for dolphin-watching was to “watch from a distance, and do not seek to touch, feed or harm dolphins.”

Only one dolphin-watching vessel should be present within 500 metres of a group of dolphins, and it should not enter a 50-metre radius of the dolphins. Vessels should be kept at a slow, steady speed not exceeding 10 knots, and should never be put in reverse when dolphins are nearby.

Those regulations apply to all marine mammals, including whales and porpoises, according to the Wild Animals Protection Ordinance.

The whale was spotted with a cut on its back in recent days, with the injury suspected to have been caused by a sharp object such as a boat propeller, said Lydia Pang, senior manager of Oceans Conservation of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) on Commercial Radio on Wednesday.

‘Not taking the risk’

One skipper for tour operator Kitty’s Boat – who did not wish to give their name – said he did not receive a leaflet from AFCD officers that morning. However, but he knew about the government’s warnings against whale-watching on Wednesday evening from watching the news.

He told HKFP that he was among the speedboat operators who were in the vicinity of Hap Mun Bay Beach and the Marine Police East Divisional Headquarters conducting whale-watching tours over the past week.

He added that he “was not taking the risk” of breaking the law by continuing to provide such tours. However, he was less concerned about the department’s orders than he was about the chance of a looming typhoon.

He also said the whale should be kept safe: “Of course, it’d be good to protect the whale, since it’s already been injured. It’s been almost two weeks, and it still hasn’t been able to leave.”

Two other operators at the pier on Thursday morning spoke to an HKFP reporter posing as a potential customer. Each said they did not offer whale-watching tours, saying it was illegal for them to do so.

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Hongkongers have been urged to stop approaching a whale spotted in Sai Kung after experts spotted injuries on the animal.

The whale, which was first spotted on July 13 in Sai Kung near Millionaire’s Beach, is believed to be a Bryde’s whale. Since the whale sighting, Hongkongers – and journalists – flocked to Sai Kung in the hope of spotting the whale, with boats in the area offering rides to approach it.

The animal was spotted with a cut on its back in recent days, with the injury suspected to have been caused by a sharp object such as a boat propeller, said Lydia Pang, senior manager of Oceans Conservation of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) on Commercial Radio on Wednesday.

The whale might stop hunting and remain in shallow waters if it is under pressure. The fact that it stayed in the city’s waters might already demonstrate that it is feeling unwell, said Pang.

“Actually some whale and dolphin watching guidelines suggest a 100-metre distance, if a whale appears within the 100-metre radius, we should try our best to stop or slow down the boat,” said Pang in Cantonese.

“Unless [the animal] approaches the boat, we suggest people do not actively approach the whale,” she added.

Pang also said that the whale’s wound seemed to be larger than several days ago, adding that she was worried the situation might worsen.

Members of the public approaching the whale may lead to “life-threatening consequences” for the animal, including trauma and an “inability to rest or feed,” said Ocean Park, and the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in a statement on Tuesday.

“Ocean Park and OPCFHK are concerned about the well-being of the animal and want to ensure that it is not disturbed or harmed in any way,” the statement read.

“Ocean Park and OPCFHK strongly urge the public to refrain from crowding and chasing the whale, as it can be dangerous and harmful to both the animal and human beings. The public is recommended to maintain a safe and respectful distance from the whale.”

The park and the foundation added that experts believed the whale needed special care from specialists, and that their team was “working closely” with the government to monitor the animal’s condition.

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Hong Kong customs officers have intercepted a shipment of thousands of live turtles and tusks from protected hippos destined for mainland China. The smugglers were feeding an insatiable Chinese demand for animals’ bodies.

With the dramatic rise of China in recent decades has come the emergence of hundreds of millions of middle-class and wealthy people able to consume to their hearts’ content. The great majority of them are carnivores. In addition to eating huge quantities of animal flesh, they consume animals’ fur, skin and body parts for fashion and so-called traditional Chinese medicine. 

This burgeoning demand has stimulated an exponential rise in the exploitation of animals. Never before in human history has the suffering and killing of animals been so great. As China has risen, the welfare of animals has fallen.

To be sure, China is not unique in leaving animals hard done by. Americans, for example, devour animal flesh with gusto. Some Japanese still eat whales. That said, in few countries are so many species consumed as in China.

What makes China’s impact on animals especially unique is the utter scale of it. With more than one billion people hankering after the flesh and bodies of other species, monumental suffering is inevitable. 

China’s growing meat consumption accounts for a quarter of the global total. Its per capita meat consumption greatly exceeds the global average. This will increase if people outside its cities follow official dietary guidelines.

Unfriendly treatment of animals

China employs a variety of venues and methods for inflicting suffering and death on animals, ranging from farms and zoos to animal experimentation and vivisection — to say nothing of polar bears and beluga whales on display in shopping malls. 

Often the government in effect requires that pain be inflicted on animals. For example, until two years ago it was mandatory in China that all cosmetics be tested on animals, and many products, such as hair dyes and sunscreens, are still subject to this requirement.

Examples of callous treatment of animals abound, such as the horrific exploitation of moon bears, whose bile is cruelly extracted and sold as an unproven traditional potion (and which, incredibly, China’s National Health Commission recommends as a treatment for Covid-19); the way that sharks are slaughtered at sea, their fins sliced off before their bodies are thrown overboard to what must be an agonising demise; the horrendous conditions that canines endure before and while being butchered; and the abuse of pets of all sorts, which are crated and delivered directly to people’s homes by e-commerce stores.

Pet abandonment is a growing problem in China, including here in Hong Kong. In July last year a man on the mainland was videotaped dropping a puppy from his car while sitting in busy traffic. It was only in 2020 that police handled China’s first case of pet abandonment.

That same year, Shenzhen made headlines when it became the first Chinese city to ban the eating of dogs and cats. Yet, each year in China ten million dogs and four million cats are killed for human consumption, most notoriously during the annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival in Guangxi. Peter J. Li, author of Animal Welfare in China, recounts visiting a Chinese slaughterhouse where “Dogs stood in a pool of blood from other dogs that had been killed.”

Last August, a Chinese online influencer had no compunction about feasting on a baby great white shark — supposedly protected in China and listed as a vulnerable species — and then sharing videos of herself “tearing off large chunks of the animal’s barbecued meat.” Perhaps her behaviour is understandable given that dried baby shark flesh is sold in China as cat food. 

It is possible that cats fattened on baby shark flesh have been eaten by people here in Hong Kong. In April a man was jailed for peddling “feline flesh for food” at his frozen-meat shop in Yau Ma Tei. That cat flesh was reportedly imported from Guangdong.

Farming animals comes with consequences

The huge scale of animal suffering in China is exemplified by its farms. Each farm animal is a sentient being that can experience pain and distress. This is worth bearing in mind when we tot up the number of farm animals in China, including 60 million cattle, over 300 million sheep and goats and nearly half a billion pigs. 

While many pigs in China succumb to disease, well over one million are slaughtered every day. In Ezhou, Hubei province, a 26-storey factory-farm cages and slaughters 1.2 million pigs each year. It has been characterised as “China’s answer to its insatiable demand for pork.”

But the numbers of pigs that live and die in captivity in China is eclipsed by the number of chickens suffering the same fate. More than 16 billion of them are slaughtered there annually.

Each year China’s farms produce more than 92 million metric tons of flesh for human consumption — not counting the roughly 12 million tons imported annually. Each gram of flesh lifted by chopsticks may have come from a sentient being.

For some decades the Chinese government has encouraged more animal farming, including of wild animals. Conservationists argue that China’s wildlife farms are used as fronts to legalise taking animals from nature. As one of them put it, “breeding farms can turn wild animals into farmed animals and turn the illegal activities into legal ones.”

China’s wildlife protection law does not prohibit the captive breeding of wild animals. It encourages farmers to view wildlife as “economic animals” that bring financial benefit. This can have some very serious consequences.

The global Covid-19 pandemic, which has killed about 20 million people according to some estimates, “occurred via the live wildlife trade in China,” just like the SARS epidemic before it. According to an expert in Hong Kong, another pandemic is inevitable and “will come from animal hosts. We must … ban the sale of wild animals.”

Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, in 2020 Beijing ordered the closure of nearly 20,000 farms holding all manner of creatures — boars, civet cats (the source of SARS), foxes, hedgehogs, ostriches, porcupines, raccoon dogs, rats, wild birds and much more. The objective was to “eliminate the consumption of food of wild animals to safeguard people’s lives and health.” 

However, by late 2022 restrictions on wildlife farming, notably of ducks, deer (likely carriers of Covid-19), mink (notorious harbours for Covid-19), raccoon dogs and silver foxes were being weakened, apparently to rekindle parts of the rural economy where local officials are incentivised to encourage all forms of business activity.

Exploiting animals far and wide

China’s growing demand for wildlife cannot be satiated domestically. Most of China’s own wild animals, including pangolins, tigers and bears, have all but disappeared. Consequently, Chinese businesses go abroad in search of wild animals: elephants, lions, pangolins and rhinos from Africa, bears from Canada and Russia, freshwater turtles from North America — and so on.

Demand among Chinese people for animals’ bodies has enormous adverse impacts on ecosystems around the world. Entire forests are felled to make way for soy farms to feed the swine whose flesh fills Chinese plates. 

Chinese demand and habitat destruction have resulted in severe declines in aquatic creatures. Seas are stripped clean of fish. Sea turtles are illegally captured throughout Southeast Asia and as far afield as Africa, making China the largest sea turtle “exploitation hotspot.” 

The diminutive dugong “sea cow” was recently declared functionally extinct in Chinese waters. It joins the Yangtze River dolphin as a casualty of China’s rapid economic growth. Hong Kong’s long-suffering pink dolphins may go the same way. 

Hong Kong’s famous seafood restaurants are supplied with endangered fish that are often caught illegally — to say nothing of the suffering of fish that one can witness in the display tanks of restaurants and the shallow troughs at wet markets across the city.

The modernity of animal exploitation in China

Animals have suffered greatly throughout the span of Chinese history due to the transformation of vast wild areas to farmland, leading to the virtual elimination of once-ubiquitous creatures, such as Chinese elephants. Nevertheless, the country’s history includes official attempts to encourage harmonious human relations with animals and nature. 

At different points in time, benevolence toward animals and vegetarianism were advocated by prominent Chinese scholars and officials. Some traditional Chinese philosophies discouraged actions that bring suffering to animals. Some Chinese dynasties outlawed cruelty toward farm animals, and some Chinese emperors sought to prohibit the consumption of dog meat.

The newfound ability of people in China to kill animals on a vast scale, with all the associated suffering that precedes it, is a particular feature of governmental policy since the advent of the People’s Republic in 1949. Judith Shapiro recounts “Mao’s war against nature,” exemplified by a misguided nationwide assault on sparrows in the 1950s, leading to a scourge of insect pests on farms because there were no more birds to keep them in check.

In today’s China, legal penalties for the maltreatment of animals are almost non-existent. To make matters worse, the government actively prevents the many people in China who are opposed to animal killing and suffering from organising and advocating for change.

Breaking the cycle of animal suffering?

In the 18th century, English philosopher Jeremy Bentham argued that animals have every bit as much right to be free of suffering as do humans. It has been half a century since publication of Animal Liberation, Peter Singer’s seminal book on animal rights. Surely Chinese officials can see the merits of these philosophers’ views, not least because they accentuate some traditional Chinese philosophies. 

Just because China’s 1.4 billion people have the ability to inflict pain on animals, dismember them, eat their body parts and destroy their habitats does not justify acting on that ability. Neither can animal exploitation and suffering in other countries be used as justification. This becomes especially evident when we consciously contemplate the life and death experiences of the billions of animals on farms, in cages and in slaughterhouses across China.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The government in Beijing could use its vast propaganda machine to convince people that protecting animals’ welfare is a sign of good citizenship. It could change nationwide dietary guidelines to discourage consumption of meat and increase the capacity of farmers to care for animals. 

It could enact new laws and regulations that equal, and ideally surpass, the highest standards of animal welfare in other countries. It could even learn from the Hong Kong police by creating a nationwide version of their Animal Watch Scheme, which investigates cases of animal cruelty, and it could measure police performance by how well they implement such a scheme. 

Recently the US Department of Agriculture approved the sale of artificial meat, giving Americans the opportunity to eat flesh without the associated cruelty and suffering. If China could corner the market on this technology, much as it has done with, say, solar cells and facial recognition tools, maybe Chinese officials could end their support for corralling and killing billions of animals.

In 2021 a university student was arrested in Tsim Sha Tsui on suspicion of animal cruelty for putting salt on invasive snails. This surprising empathy for gastropods from the informant and the police may offer a tiny glimmer of hope amidst the plight of animal suffering across China — even if this news went unnoticed by local diners tucking into their Cantonese-style periwinkle snails in black bean sauce. 

Snails may not cry, but if we could hear the cries of the billions of sentient animals suffering and dying in China right now, the wail would be deafening.

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A whale has been spotted in Hong Kong’s eastern waters, a rare sighting that has enthralled spectators and intrigued experts trying to assess the reason for the visit.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said in a Facebook post on Friday the mammal was suspected to be a Bryde’s whale.

Catherine Lumsden shared footage of the encounter near Millionaire’s Beach in Sai Kung with HKFP on Thursday. “Still buzzing from it now! Beyond magnificent and stuff of dreams, and right here in Sai Kung,” Lumsden told HKFP.

The Hebe Haven Yacht Club also uploaded a video on Facebook, showing the whale poking its head above water and repeatedly opening its mouth before diving back down in a display of its dorsal fin.

HKFP has reached out to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) for comment.

WWF said Bryde’s whales were usually found in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Some may pass through the city during their migration, or it may have gotten lost or fallen sick.

The conservation organisation asked people not to go in search of the whale as boat traffic and engine noise may cause it stress and disturb it. The Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society also urged the public to keep their distance and not surround it with boats as this may affect its ability to find its way back to the open sea.

Founding president of the Hong Kong Ichthyological Society Chong Dee-hwa told a radio programme that the whale did not appear to be lost in Hong Kong waters. Chong said it might have been chasing sardines, which bred rapidly due to the improved water quality in the city.

The whale was believed to be a Bryde’s Whale because of its size and its way of eating small fish – opening its mouth wide and filtering prey with its teeth.

Hong Kong and mainland China’s southern coast are home to a population of around 2,000 pink dolphins – the largest group in the world. Also known as Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins or Chinese white dolphins, their abundance in Hong Kong waters has declined by almost 80 per cent in 18 years, according to data collected by the AFCD.   

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Hong Kong stray animal shelter House of Joy and Mercy does not just provide refuge for four-legged creatures.

“I would call this place my home because I live here,” Ivy Tse, the centre’s founder, told HKFP.

The shelter is located in a remote corner of Yuen Long. Within its walls, each of the more than 200 animals has a unique backstory.

Some were injured strays, left to fend for themselves on the streets. Others were abandoned by their owners for various reasons, while some were rescued from breeding farms.

“We have a white dog that was rescued from a breeding farm. He was injured and has a persistent erection problem, hopefully he will recover in a few months,” Gloria, who works at House of Joy and Mercy, told HKFP.

Tse has long loved animals. She once adopted a Rottweiler named Ah Gwan, who had been rescued from a breeding farm. Despite his size, Ah Gwan was scared of sticks and poles, such as those used for broom handles.

It was this that inspired Tse to name him Ah Gwan, with “gwan” being the Cantonese pronunciation for “stick.”

Ah Gwan died of cancer in 2015, which led Tse to contemplate the nature of life and death and become more devoted to Buddhism.

That same year, she invested HK$200,000 into establishing the House of Joy and Mercy, which is known in Cantonese as Ah Gwan House. In 2017, the shelter became a registered charity – it relies largely on donations.

Running the shelter is hard, busy work. Tse is constantly occupied with various tasks, such as processing documents for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) or animal welfare charity the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

She also organises volunteer groups and adoption days, attempts to balance donations and expenses, cleans up after the animals, administers medication, and tends to the dietary needs of the shelter’s dogs, cats, parrots, turtles, and goats.

After a long day’s work, Tse sleeps in a room at the shelter with elderly dogs that need special care, giving them comfort and companionship.

“It is easier for puppies and young dogs to get human attention; volunteers and visitors are willing to pet them. I spend more time with those elderly dogs,” Tse said.

Tse hopes that all animals have a peaceful end to their lives, which is also the promise made by the House of Joy and Mercy.

The shelter is committed to caring for all of its elderly dogs until they pass away, providing them with comfort and support during their final days.

Readers may find some images below to be distressing.

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By Kris Hartley

The Hong Kong legislature is discussing significantly stricter penalties for feeding pigeons. Violators could face up to one year in prison and a maximum fine of HK$100,000 (US$12,750) – 10 times higher than the current amount.

This policy revision aims to prevent overpopulation of pigeons and the associated impacts on other species and humans, including the threat of disease. Public signage already warns that feeding pigeons weakens their foraging instinct, compromises their health, and (vaguely) places them in “danger.”

The Hong Kong government evidently considers the feeding of pigeons to be a significant problem and is not satisfied with the outcome of existing policies. Data may not be kept on the number and percentage of people who feed pigeons, but it likely constitutes only a small share of the population. A lingering question is whether this generous subset will respond predictably to increasingly punitive measures.

One possibility is that higher fines fail to convince feeders that their behavior is detrimental. They may see the intervention more as government overreach on an issue of no apparent urgency. As such, these types of punitive measures must be combined with public education that underscores the threat of the problem.

However, with numerous other policy issues facing the city – rising housing costs, fierce competition among new graduates for decent jobs, and other problems – most people and all feeders may not look favourably on the effort. It could be difficult for them to envisage how anybody is directly harmed by feeding, even as there may legitimately be unseen threats to public health and nature.

Concerning implementation, measures will work only if they are enforced – and there has been discussion about strengthening enforcement capacity in combination with the introduction of this reform. Interest in cultivating the image of successful implementation may compel the government to prosecute one or several high-profile cases as examples. However, this signalling game risks turning prosecuted feeders into policy martyrs.

Another approach is to continue tinkering with the level of fines. Governments often adopt policies that require quantitative adjustments – moving a key metric up or down. In this case, adjusting fines could be done incrementally and compared to new results over time. An optimal balance can be found this way, but it takes constant tinkering, monitoring, and a lot of public communication. This is a rather inefficient strategy.

For people to act of their own free will, independent of government expectations, they must see the consequences of their actions. The detriment to nature or public health that comes from feeding pigeons – however significant or not it may be – is not readily apparent to most. If education matters, where people get their information is important.

Recent research I published with colleagues at the University of Melbourne found that people’s receptiveness to policies for scientific or technical issues depends on the credibility of the source – that is, the person or organisation making the policy recommendation. For Covid-19 measures like mandatory testing and vaccination, people in our study were generally found to have more trust in scientists than in government.

This difference in public trust was more pronounced in Hong Kong than in Australia, our comparison case, due potentially to lower existing levels of trust in the Hong Kong government. Nevertheless, low trust need not always lead to ineffective policymaking, particularly if the government solicits the endorsement of experts – as it did on some occasions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Our research findings hint at what the government could do in this situation. If feeders hear more from scientists than from policy officials, they may be more willing to comply. Furthermore, connecting feeding with the risk of diseases and viruses could resonate particularly well in the wake of the pandemic.

The relatively few people who feed pigeons probably believe they are doing something good – or at least something innocent. Addressing an issue like this takes a cultural shift in values or everyday habits, something that governments are famously ineffective at managing.

“Life finds a way,” proclaimed Dr. Ian Malcolm in the film Jurassic Park. Feeders can take comfort in knowing that unfed pigeons will find a way. At the same time, I tend to think that feeders will also find a way – to keep feeding.

Kris Hartley is Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Program Leader of the Master of Social Sciences in Development Studies at the Department of Public and International Affairs at City University of Hong Kong.

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Hong Kong will increase the number of “Parks for Pets” by 50 next Tuesday, bringing the total number of pet-friendly parks to 170.

Rather than providing cordoned-off areas for pets, the scheme opens up entire existing parks for Hongkongers to visit with their furry friends.

“When identifying suitable locations as Inclusive Parks for Pets, the department has considered different criteria, including the demand of the public for these facilities, size and location of the venues, ancillary facilities and their usage,” a Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) spokesperson said in a Thursday press release.

Hong Kong's new pet-inclusive parks by HKFP on Scribd

Excreta collection bins, hand-washing facilities and extra cleaning work will be rolled out for the new areas, the spokesperson added.

More details can be found on the LCSD website.

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An animal welfare charity, Team for Animals In Lantau South (TAILS), has said that they will stop accepting new animals for adoption as they are “full.” The founder has said there were fewer foster carers and adoptions after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Founded in 2018, TAILS is a registered animal welfare charity based in South Lantau, and is run by a group of volunteers, who rescue, rehabilitate and rehome animals in need.

In a press release last Friday, founder Esslin Terrighena said that there were over 75 animals in their care at the moment, and it was far more than they could support financially or practically.

She said that they had a budget that barely covered 50 animals and, suddenly, having 50 per cent more animals to look after created significant financial distress. “We are beyond our limits, and we are full,” Terrighena said.

She added that, while most of the animals came with multiple health issues, together with a recent increase in veterinary fees, TAILS had “ever-mounting medical bills.”

“It is unbelievably hard for us to turn away any animal in need, but right now, we are beyond our limits, and we are full,” she said. “In part, we have so many animals because people do not respect the boundary we set when we say that we are full, and simply drop off cats and dogs at our doorstep without our agreement.”

The NGO had therefore made a decision to concentrate on the 75 animals in its care, she said.

Fewer adopters and fosters

Terrighena told HKFP that they had no dedicated premises and rely fully on the homes of adopters or foster carers: “There is a lack of foster and adopter families in Hong Kong, in part due to people going back to work from the office, and travelling more.”

She said that there were still many animals being abandoned for different reasons, including leaving the city, pets having grown too big, financial issues, behavioural problems, age or health issues.

Terrighena added that there was an increase in stray cats and dogs. There was a shortage of qualified veterinary staff at clinics during Covid-19, making it harder to get stray animals desexed and, now, those animals were having offspring.

Terrighena called on supporters to foster, adopt or volunteer, as well as make donations.

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