Woman attacked by wild boar after stopping to take photo on hiking trail

Apparently, “stop and smell the roses” is not advice you should take readily on Hong Kong’s hiking trails.

A woman’s morning stroll in Quarry Bay ended with a trip to the hospital after a wild boar charged towards her and bit her leg when she paused for a photo stop.

Police received a report from other hikers on the Mount Parker Road trail at around 8 am.

A police spokesperson said the wild boar measured about a meter long, and that it ran off with three or four other pigs after the attack, according to the South China Morning Post.

The 61-year-old, surnamed Lam, was sent to Eastern Hospital after paramedics bandaged her right knee, where she was bitten by the boar. She was able to alight the ambulance herself outside the hospital and was helped onto a wheelchair by medical staff.

Wild boar sightings are not uncommon near King’s Road, which runs through Quarry Bay, Simon Chan, assistant director at the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, told the SCMP.

Read more: (Video) Makin’ my way downtown: Wild boar casually strolls through Kennedy Town

Last month, a baby boar who made her way into Quarry Bay MTR station boarded two trains—first on the Island Line, then changing to the Tseung Kwan O Line—before being caught.

While wild boars are generally wary of human contact and do not pose a threat to passersbys, they have been known to get aggressive. In 2019, a man was waiting at a bus stop in the Southern district when a boar bit his thigh and tore a hole through his jeans.