For grocery shoppers in Mui Wo, last night felt more like the Year of the Ox than the Year of the Pig when the they were joined by four wild cows at the supermarket.
Ming Pao reports that the incident took place at about 8pm last night, and that staff and store patrons managed to herd the cows out of the store.
A short video of the four cows munching on items in the fresh produce section of a Fusion supermarket appeared on Facebook last night, and some Mui Wo residents posted on Facebook that at least three cows were spotted waiting outside the supermarket at 10:30pm after closing time.
According to the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department (AFCD), there are about 1,100 wild cows and 120 wild buffaloes in Hong Kong’s country parks. Most of these wild cattle and buffaloes are distributed across Lantau Island, Sai Kung, Ma On Shan, and central and northeastern parts of the New Territories.
Mui Wo is a rural town on the eastern coast of Lantau Island that’s about a 50-minute ferry ride from Central.
Mui Wo district Councillor Andy Wong Man-hon told Ming Pao that the town is home to about 30 wild cows and 40 buffaloes.
Wong said this was the first time he had heard of a wild cow breaking into a store, but was concerned that it might not be the last given that members of the public feed the wild cattle fruit.
And just in case anyone was worried about a little cow drool on their romaine lettuce, a spokesperson from ParknShop, the supermarket chain that owns Fusion, told the newspaper that the Mui Wo branch of the supermarket had destroyed the produce in the store and have thoroughly cleaned the shelves.
