ENG-1959 — Page 373

Chapter 23: Fauna and Flora

FAUNA

Mammals. Wild mammals are seldom seen, although the species on record are both varied and interesting. Due largely to an immense expansion of the human population in recent times, some of these mammalian species have unfortunately become scarce, rare, or even non-existent in Hong Kong. The fact that several of them (e.g. civets, wild cats, porcupines, and deer) are of considerable value locally as food is also not conducive to an increase in their numbers.

Of the cat family, both the South China Tiger and the Leopard have occasionally entered the Colony from Chinese territory. Such visits are now extremely rare and although there was a report in January of this year that two young Chinese women gathering firewood near Tai Po had come upon a tiger asleep, there were no subsequent reports of it. A leopard was seen in the New Territories as recently as 1957. The one other member of the cat family on record is the Chinese Leopard Cat, spotted and about the size of a Domestic Cat, which is still resident in restricted numbers in certain less populated areas.

The Dhole or Indian Wild Dog and the South China Red Fox are both included in the Colony's fauna, though the present status of each is unknown and it seems that neither have been seen for some years. Monkeys still occur in small numbers, but have very localized distribution, both on Hong Kong Island and in the New Territories. Although all of these may be the descendants of released or escaped specimens, it is possible that those on Hong Kong Island are indigenous Rhesus Monkeys, a species which less than a hundred years ago was found on most of the small islands about Hong Kong. Another interesting mammal, seldom seen due to its secretive and largely nocturnal habits, is the primitive Chinese Pangolin or Scaly Ant-eater. Other indigenous mammals are the Chinese Ferret-Badger, which is probably widely distributed