‘The population seems to be booming,’ says Paul Crow, senior conservation officer at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden. ‘The predators that used to help control the population are long gone. Once we would have had tigers, leopards and dhole (Asiatic wild dog), among others. Now, only pythons. Even the old villagers that once trapped and hunted them are fading out, so there’s very little to control populations.’

Sightings of wild boars on the city fringes have increased, too. Boars are attracted to bins – ready sources of food for these omnivores. Plus, as Hau points out, humans have moved closer to where wild boars live. In October last year, three boars were spotted trotting through Causeway Bay – one of the most densely packed and neon-lit of Hong Kong’s urban centres. They were safely tranquillised and returned to their more usual habitat.

There are a few reports of boars attacking humans. One involved a boar that was kicked by a police officer tasked with catching it. The boar – not unreasonably, you might think – retaliated, attacking the policeman, a passing cyclist and a van before being caught with nets and taken away.