A 77-year-old man was in hospital last night after a rampaging wild boar pinned him to the ground and bit him in the groin in Tai Po yesterday. Leung Kam-fai was playing cards with his friends at a rest area in Ying Pun Ha, when the 70-kilogram beast jumped a fence and charged at him.
Plucky pensioner Leung tried to fight off the boar with a stick and managed to keep it at bay for one minute before it attacked, knocking him to the ground and sinking its teeth into his groin for several seconds.
Leung was rushed to Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, bleeding and with the front ripped off his trousers. He was in a stable condition last night.
The attack, shortly after 1pm, has led to calls for the government to control the wild boar population.
An eyewitness said the boar had become trapped in a fence at a nearby house and when it freed itself it ran along a trench outside the house until it hit a dead end and jumped over a meter-tall fence.
The animal ran up the hill to the rest area where some elderly people were playing cards. Mr Lee said the boar ran towards him but he blocked it with a bike. The animal then turned on Leung.
Police searched the area but could not find the animal.
Alex Yeung Kai-keung, leader of the civilian but officially registered Tai Po Wild Pig Hunting Team, said the presence of boars is prominent in the villages but the government has done little to protect residents. He said people are feeding boars at places like Kam Shan Country Park and this ought to be discouraged. He also called on the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department to carry out sterilizations on boars to control the population.
He added that boars do not attack unless they are large males, have protruding teeth and are hungry, frightened, sick, or think their babies are in danger.
When faced with a raging boar, Yeung said people should stay calm and never launch an attack.
