Mammals - Mammalia
Primates - Primates
Macaque - Macaca mulatta Cats - Felines Leopard Cat - Prionailarus bengalensis Swines - Suidae Wild Boar - Sus scrofa Rodents - Rodentia Pallas's Squirrel - Callosciurus erythraeus East Asian Porcupine - Hystrix brachyura Black Rat - Rattus rattus |
Ruminants - Ruminantia
Stray Cattle - Bos taurus Asian Water Buffalo - Bubalus bubalis Domestic Goat - Capra hircus Barking Deer - Muntiacus muntjak Whales & Dolphins - Cetaceans Indo-Pacific Humpack Dolphin - Sousa chinensis Bats - Chiroptera Lesser Short-Nosed Fruit Bat - Cynopterus brachyotis |
Primates - Primates
Macaque 獼猴 Macaca fascicularis / Macaca mulatta
Populations of wild macaques in Hong Kong are concentrated on Kam Shan Country Park with populations fanning out into Lion Rock Country Park and the area around Shing Mun reservoir. They are believed to be descended from animals released into the wild in the 1910s and 1950s which have formed small but steadily increasing breeding colonies. The macaques in Hong Kong are believed to be two different species: the Rhesus or Long-tailed Macaque Macaca mulatta and the Crab-eating Macaque Macaca fascicularis and their hybrid descendants (source). The current population of macaques in Hong Kong is estimated to be around 2000 (source). Common.
Cats - Felines
Leopard Cat 豹貓 Prionailarus bengalensis
The leopard cat is the most widely distributed species of wild cat in Asia. Its range extends from Afghanistan to China and some Japanese Islands. It is rare in Hong Kong but still breeding in the wild. Uncommon.
Swines - Suidae
Wild Boar 野豬 Sus scrofa chiridonta
In the mid-twentieth century the wild boar population of Hong Kong had been hunted to small numbers in remote parts of the New Territories. Nowadays they are quite common in all the country parks of Hong Kong. It grows to a shoulder height of about 90cm and a weight of 100-150kg. It is normally nocturnal in habits, and usually lives in small family groups. More and more frequently you can see the aftermath of a wild boar food forage in the earth beside trails in the country parks. The young are striped. Very common.
Rodents - Rodentia
Pallas's Squirrel 赤腹松鼠 Callosciurus erythraeus
This is a South-East Asian squirrel, thought to have been introduced to Hong Kong through the escape and release of animals imported from Thailand. Coloration in this species is variable and can range from red through grey to black. They eat pinecones, seeds, shoots, figs and insects. These squirrels can be found in city parks and in the country parks in Hong Kong. Common.
East Asian Porcupine 東亞豪豬 Hystrix brachyura
Despite being quite common, Hong Kong's porcupines are largely nocturnal. Here is a picture of some porcupine quills found on a hillside path.
Black Rat 玄鼠 Rattus rattus
Ruminants - Ruminantia
Stray Cattle (Brown Swiss Cattle) 牛 Bos taurus
Feral cattle, descendants of farmed brown cattle (there are no longer dairy farms in Hong Kong) roam the countryside of Lantau, Sai Kung, Ma On Shan and Tai Mo Shan Country Parks. There are around 1100 stray cattle in Hong Kong (source). Brown Swiss Cattle are noted for the docile temperament, high milk yield and resilience to difficult conditions (source). As the wild population of Hong Kong shows, they are capable of surviving and reproducing without human intervention. Common.
Asian Water Buffalo 水牛 Bubalus bubalis
The buffalo in Hong Kong are released farm animals from the days when local farmers would have used them to plough their fields and rice paddies. They are not as common as the cattle and are found only in the vicinity of South-East Lantau. It is estimated that they number around 120 animals. Uncommon.
Domestic Goat 山羊 Capra hircus
Increasingly more common, compared to the free-roaming cows and buffalo, there are a few feral herds of goats in Hong Kong, both on Lantau Island and in the Central/Northern New Territories.
Barking Deer (Muntjac) 赤麂 Muntiacus vaginalis
The male barking deer makes a call like a dog barking in the mating season. It is a small deer with a shoulder height of around 45cm and weighs around 12-20kg. Males have small, simple antlers. Beneath the eye is a large suborbital scent gland, the secretion from which is used to mark territorial limits. The species avoids open ground and lives its life within forested or scrubland areas of the country parks. It feeds by browsing on bushes and small trees. It will also graze and eat fruit. The species found in Hong Kong is the Northern Red Muntjac and not the Chinese Muntjac. Very common.
Whales & Dolphins - Cetaceans
Hong Kong Pink Dolphin (Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin) 中華白海豚 Sousa chinensis
I haven't been able to photograph these dolphins apart from the distant dorsal fin shots below.
The dolphins live in the Pearl River estuary and frequent a territory to the west of Lantau island. This area of sea has seen huge upheaval in the last twenty years with the construction of Chek Lap Kok airport in the 1990s and the Hong Kong to Zhuhai and Macau bridge in the 2010s. All of which cannot be helping the dwindling dolphin numbers which are no higher than 32 as we enter the 2020s. For more information have a look at the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation page. Rare.
The dolphins live in the Pearl River estuary and frequent a territory to the west of Lantau island. This area of sea has seen huge upheaval in the last twenty years with the construction of Chek Lap Kok airport in the 1990s and the Hong Kong to Zhuhai and Macau bridge in the 2010s. All of which cannot be helping the dwindling dolphin numbers which are no higher than 32 as we enter the 2020s. For more information have a look at the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation page. Rare.