Vet Students Campaign Against Culling Of Wild Boars

Around 350 people from the veterinary sector have signed a petition urging the government to pull a new capture-and-kill strategy for wild boars.

Those who signed include practising vets, nurses and veterinary students.

One of the students who launched the campaign, Natalie, said overseas studies show contraception is an effective means to reduce wild boar population in the long run, so the government should not suspend this scheme after contraceptives were only used on about 300 wild pigs.

Another student, Cherry, said they learned about animal welfare and ethics in school, and believe they have a duty to speak up for wild animals in Hong Kong against the “unfair” strategy.

“Only a small number of wild boars have hurt people. And why did they do so? It’s because humans invaded their habitats. They had no other options than to come into the city to search for food,” she told a radio programme.

“It’s not the wild boars’ fault that they appear in the city. We should not kill them, but should step up education so people will not feed or get too close to them,” she said.