A 23-year-old man was arrested in the early hours of today after he was caught apparently using a stun gun on a toad in a Tai Po park.
At around 2am, police officers were patrolling near Tai Po Old Market Public School when they heard strange noises that sounded like toad calls, Oriental Daily reports.
Officers apprehended a person in the vicinity, who turned out to be a 23-year-old mainland Chinese student holding a seven-inch-long flashlight with a built-in taser. The student told officers that he sometimes liked to stun toads “for fun”.
Police arrested the man on suspicion of possessing a firearm without a licence, and took him into custody for further investigation.
Judging by a photograph, Yip Ka-hung, director of the Hong Kong Reptile and Amphibians Association, guessed that the creature was of the species Duttaphrynus melanostictus, also known as the Asian common toad.
They are nocturnal animals, and can be heard making mating calls during summer months. Yip warned members of the public not to approach the toads, as they have poisonous glands on either side of their heads.
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