Hong Kong’s wild pig problem got a bit more hairy on Wednesday, after two people were attacked near the University of Hong Kong.
A 39-year-old woman surnamed Chow was attacked by a pig on Babington Path in Cambridge Gardens shortly after 11am, a police spokesperson confirmed to Coconuts HK. She called police, and was taken to Queen Mary Hospital.
“Her head, chest, hand and feet were injured,” a police spokesperson said.
In a second attack that morning, police received another report that a man, who was walking with his wife, was bitten by a pig around the same location as the first attack. The man went to the hospital for injuries to his face, hands and legs, according to police.
Police have not located the pig(s) responsible, and it remains unclear whether the same pig attacked both victims. It’s also unknown whether either of the victims had approached or attempted to feed the pig.
Meanwhile, an HKU spokesperson told Coconuts HK that the university sent an email reminding its members to stay away from wild animals for their personal safety.
Wild pigs commonly turn up in urban parts of Hong Kong, whether they’re rooting through trash for food, or speeding down highways. They’re not prone to violence most of the time, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) says, but if “provoked or threatened,” they “may become aggressive and may attack humans.”
The AFCD received over 700 complaints about wild pigs last year — more than twice the number from four years earlier. It is currently testing a pilot program to reduce the city’s wild pig population, SCMP reported.
The department advises members of the public who encounter a wild pig to keep calm, stay away and leave them undisturbed.
