23
Natural History
It is easy for a visitor to miss altogether the delights of Hong Kong's countryside, so overpowering is the impact of the city life. Even residents can forget, in the bustle of their daily business, that on their doorsteps lie peaceful farming areas, empty hills or quiet woodland walks. On Hong Kong Island a drive of thirty minutes is sufficient to reach the catchment area of the Tai Tam Reservoir with many miles of interesting paths. Here as in the much wider area of the New Territories within easy reach of Kowloon there is a surprising abundance of wild life when one considers the tre- mendous encroachments of urbanization on the Hong Kong scale and the changes in natural environment which have been brought about.
WILD LIFE
Whilst several species of wild mammals were formerly either rare residents or merely occasional visitors from across the Colony's borders, and no longer occur, the few which remain are seriously threatened by the rapid post-war development and population increase. Those which no longer exist are the South China Red Fox, Dhole or Indian Wild Dog, Large Chinese Civet, Crab-eating Mongoose, Leopard and South China Tiger. Species now rarely seen include the Rhesus Monkey, Chinese Pangolin or Scaly Ant- eater, Eastern Chinese Otter, Chinese Leopard Cat and Wild Boar. It is not known whether the few remaining Rhesus Monkeys in the woods in the Tai Tam area of Hong Kong Island and in the Kowloon reservoir area are surviving remnants of the original wild stock, or the descendants of escaped or released specimens.
Fortunately, the Barking Deer (Reeves' Muntjac) is not uncom- mon in the wooded hillsides on Hong Kong Island. Being largely nocturnal it is seldom seen, although its characteristic bark is familiar to residents on The Peak. Other indigenous mammals still to be found, though nowhere common, are the Chinese Ferret-Badger, Small Indian Civet and Masked Palm Civet.
Page 285Page 286