In Hong Kong, rubbish left on the street attracts specimens that are a lot more impressive than just your average pest. Whilst taking their child to school, one parent was surprised to discover an unexpected visitor, an enormous wild boar rearing up on its hind legs to reach the bins.
Discover our latest podcast
Where this happened isn’t very clearly identifiable in this relatively short video which was seen more than 300,000 times. But it is long enough to watch the boar energetically attacking the bin bags, surrounded by three smaller creatures, which were undoubtedly its offspring. The images have created a lot of hype amongst internet users, with some worrying about the proximity of the animals to a school.
A widely popular animal
Wild boars, scientifically known as Sus scrofa is an animal that is widely spread out throughout Europe as well as in North Africa. Its presence in Hong Kong is, therefore, no surprise and they are frequently seen there. In June 2017, authorities had a similar incident to take care of. The police had to track and deal with a boar that had caused a lot of panic in the town and caused two injuries.
According to Alex Hofford, speaking to The South China Morning Post, the boars could be forced to venture into urban areas due to their food supplies decreasing in nature and a lack of biodiversity in Hong Kong. Probably attracted by the smells, the animals would not hesitate to rummage through the rubbish in search of food.
Regarding the size of the wild boars, although surprising, they are not particularly exceptional. Wild boars can vary in size, particularly according to their subspecies and their environment. Whilst it is possible that some specimens can reach a weight of around 90 kg with a shoulder width of 80 cm, others can grow to 200 kg with a length of more than 100 cm.
Check out the video above to see the terrifying footage for yourself!
