Hong Kong seems only a territory for financial companies, hundreds of skyscrapers or huge buildings, such as shopping centers or a cult resort of Disneyland, a thematic park that carries a Walt Disney Seal company. But this is not only a place for urban residents, but also Small population Asilvade Water Buffalo It lives in the southern swamps of the island of Lantau, which brought the expectation between neighbors and visitors.
A coexistence between these animals and local residents This is still atypical, because these are mammals that can weigh more in the case of men. This curious mixture was even the subject of research by scientists from the University of Hong Kong (Cityuhk), who checked the perception of residents about their special neighbors. And there are opinions for all tastes.
“Some see a living relationship with the rural past territory in Buffalo, while others care about safety, environmental impacts or traffic breaks,” explains the chief researcher Alan Mackelligott.
Life with a buffalo in Hong Kong
The team founded its conclusions on 657 answers (550 online and 107 interviews personally, with 56 participants who left additional comments) are collected in a public survey distributed in the last months of 2023 and early 2024. The results are published in the journal People and natureField
A public attitude On the way to the buffaloes were divided into four categories: assessment and conditional acceptance of its presence; Concern for the impact on the community and the demand for improvement; its value for preservation and education; and individual perception formed in everyday meetings. In each of these categories, neutral answers were the most frequent, followed, in order of positive and negative.
ABOUT Questions about the tolerance and assessment of the buffalo61 % of the answers were neutral, 25 % are very positive and 14 % very negative. As for the social benefits and protection of Buffalo, 66 % of the respondents were neutral, 19 % gave positive answers and 15 % are negative. Such numbers were given when he was asked about preservation and education.
The neighbors also talked about Influence on everyday life: 49 % of the answers were neutral, very positive 27 % and very negative 23 %, with significant consequences from age and ethnicity. In any case, coexistence was not poorly considered: “Emotional answers were widespread in an interview: the most pronounced love for buffalo or neutral views, and the minority expressed concern about the risks of security.”
In addition to collecting a curious mixture between people and Buffalo, the authors claim that these opinions should be used for guarantee that people and animals Share the landscape in harmony.
