ENG-1970 — Page 291

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Natural History

DESPITE rapid urbanisation and an expanding population, Hong Kong has clung to its countryside heritage with surprising success. By far the greater part of the Colony's land mass is still rolling fields, quiet wooded hills, lush valleys and beaches. Here can be found the animal and plant life of Hong Kong.

Government's interest and concern in conserving nature is dem- onstrated both by legislation and by the activity of its conservation staff. There are eight wild life sanctuaries, one of which is the whole of Hong Kong Island. In 1969 the Report of the Provisional Council for the Use and Conservation of the Countryside was tabled before Executive Council and as a result two Advisory Committees for Recreational Development and Nature Conservation were subse- quently created in September 1970. One Committee is to make recommendations in respect of measures to be taken on Hong Kong Island, while the other Committee will make recommendations cover- ing the New Territories. New legislation was enacted to prohibit, except under licence, the trading in, importation, exportation and possession of certain non-indigenous rare animals and birds which are in danger of extinction. The law covering the protection of local fauna is also being revised.

WILD LIFE

With increased urbanisation and greater use of the countryside by an urban population many wild animals, particularly mammals, are declining in numbers. Indigenous mammals which no longer occur are the Crab-Eating Mongoose, the Wild Red Dog or Dhole, the Tiger and the Leopard. The last definite record of a Tiger was in 1947 and the last recorded sighting of a Leopard in 1957. The Eastern Chinese Otter, once abundant, is now a rare visitor, and of the carnivores, the South China Red Fox and the Chinese Leopard Cat have all but disappeared from the Colony.