答覆立法會問題
LCQ22: Management of stray cattle
Following is a question by the Hon Leung Che-cheung and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today
(January 7):
Question:
According to a paper submitted by the authorities to the Panel on Food Safety
and Environmental Hygiene of this Council last month, there were approximately 1
100 heads of stray cattle in Hong Kong in 2013 and, among them, around 57% were
"rural/wild" herds and 43% were "town" herds. In this connection, will the
Government inform this Council:
(1) of a breakdown of the current number of stray cattle in the districts listed
in the table below by whether they belong to (i) the "rural/wild" herds, or (ii)
the "town" herds, and whether they are buffalo or brown cattle (set out the
breakdown in the table below);
Buffalo Brown cattle
Lantau Island
(i)
(ii)
Ma On Shan/Sai Kung
(i)
(ii)
Northwest New
(i)
Territories
(ii)
Central New
(i)
Territories
(ii)
(2) of the specific places of distribution of stray cattle belonging to the
"rural/wild" herds and those belonging to the "town" herds respectively at
present, with indication of the locations of such places on a map;
(3) of the number of traffic accidents involving stray cattle in each of the
past three years, and the number of resultant deaths of stray cattle;
(4) of the number of stray cattle caught by the Agriculture, Fisheries and
Conservation Department (AFCD) in each of the past three years, with a breakdown
by handling method (e.g. sale by auction, adoption by farms and euthanasia); and
(5) whether AFCD has plans to have all the stray cattle sterilised under the
"Capture-Sterilise-Relocate" programme; whether it has set an annual target and
implementation timetable for the sterilisation programme; of the number of
cattle to be sterilised by AFCD each year based on the current resources and
implementation progress of the programme?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(1) According to a territory-wide population survey on stray cattle conducted in
2013, there were approximately 1 100 heads of stray brown cattle in Hong Kong.
They were primarily distributed in four areas, namely Lantau Island, Sai Kung/Ma
On Shan, Northeast New Territories and Central New Territories. Around 57% of
them were considered as belonging to the "rural/wild" herds and 43% as "town"
herds. More than 70% of the cattle observed under the survey were adults, 23%
were adolescents and juveniles, and 7% were calves. Males (49%) and females
(51%) constituted similar proportions of the cattle population. In addition,
there were about 120 heads of buffalo in Hong Kong.
Based on the above statistics, the number of stray cattle belonging to (i)
"rural/wild" herds and (ii) "town" herds respectively in 2013 is set out below:
District/
Buffalo Brown cattle
Type of bovine
(Note 1)
Lantau Island
75
(i) 125
(ii) 100
Ma On Shan/Sai Kung
0
(i) 260
(ii) 190
Northeast New
0
(i) 235
Territories (Note 2)
(ii) 0
Central New
45
(i) 200
Territories (Note 2)
(ii) 0
Note 1: We have not classified buffalo into "rural/wild" or "town" herds.
Note 2: Stray cattle in the New Territories are mainly found in rural areas in
Northeast New Territories and Central New Territories. They all belong to
"rural/wild" herds.
(2) The above statistics show that "rural/wild" herds of cattle were mainly
found in Northeast New Territories and Central New Territories, as well as the
country parks in Lantau Island and Ma On Shan/Sai Kung areas. The distribution
of stray cattle in Hong Kong is shown in Annex.
(3) The government departments concerned have not separately kept statistics on
the number of traffic incidents involving stray cattle in Hong Kong.
(4) To address public nuisances caused by stray cattle and prevent a further
surge in cattle population, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation
Department (AFCD) has established a protocol and adopted a catch and removal
strategy. In general, once a removed stray cow/bull is confirmed to be unclaimed
by any owner, it may be sold to farmers by auction or rehomed with suitable
leisure farms. If the cattle concerned are not suitable for disposal by these
means, humane euthanasia may be administered by veterinary officers of AFCD. For
injured cattle, veterinary officers of AFCD will assess the degree of injury and
decide on euthanasia or disposal by the abovementioned way of auction or
rehoming as appropriate.
From November 2011 to October 2014, AFCD captured 531 heads of stray brown
cattle and buffalo in the territory. Discounting the number of repeated capture,
409 cattle were caught in total. Among them, 282 were sterilised and relocated,
5 rehomed with farms or the World Wild Fund, and 122 euthanised.
(5) In response to calls from society for better management of the stray cattle
population in the long term, AFCD has supplemented the catch and removal
strategy with a multi-pronged stray cattle management mechanism which takes into
account the different characteristics of individual districts. This includes the
Capture-Sterilise-Relocate programme launched in November 2011. Under the
programme, AFCD officers will take proactive action to capture stray cattle,
have the cattle sterilised and ear-tagged for identification, and then relocate
them to a more remote location in the same district. From November 2011 to
October 2014, AFCD sterilised about 282 brown cattle and buffalo, i.e. around
100 cattle each year on average.
Over the past few years, AFCD has been collecting data about cattle population
and distribution through territory-wide surveys on cattle population and regular
on-site inspections. The department will continue to monitor the cattle
population. In particular, it will keep a close watch over the population and
distribution of sterilised and relocated cattle as well as the number of
cattle-related complaints for the purpose of formulating long-term sterilisation
targets or implementation timetable. AFCD will also take into account the views
of different stakeholders when deciding whether and how to adjust the Capture-Sterilise-Relocate
programme for tackling nuisances caused by stray cattle to the public,
especially local residents and road users.
Ends/Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:12
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LCQ 22 Annex