Hong Kong authorities declared a wild boar hunt after the animals have continued to trespass in crowded public areas, with one incident where one bit a police officer, and health officials are warning of their potential spread of disease.

Officials reported that the boars have taken subway rides, loitered at pedestrian crossings, and have eaten from food that local residents gave them. However, recent incidents have become far too much for authorities despite having long roamed the hills and hiking trails surrounding the city.

Wild Boar Population

Last week, one boar bit a police officer, which caused authorities in the Asian hub to start a major crackdown on the animals. Officials announced the boar hunt on Wednesday night with an operation that captured and euthanized seven wild boar in a part of the city that was less than half an hour's drive away from the financial center of the region.

Officials' decision to capture the animals and use medicine injections for what they called "humane dispatch" is a significant shift from a policy where they previously aimed to capture, neuter, and relocate boars to remote areas. In a statement, the city's Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department (AFCD) said that the previous approach was ineffective and failed to control the nuisance caused by the wild pig population, NBC News reported.

Read Also: Mississippi Executes Man Who Killed His Wife, Sexually Assaulted 12-Year-Old Stepdaughter

Local residents frequently feed the wild boars that have come from hiking trails near Hong Kong despite appeals from authorities to avoid such actions. They argued that the animals could spread diseases and may gather in large numbers. A statement read that a large group of the animals wandered and gathered at the site, which posed a threat to members of the public and road users.

Increase of Wildlife in Hong Kong

The incident of the boar attacking a police officer was when the animal knocked down the law enforcement personnel and bit his leg before dropping to its death from a residential car park. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam warned people who were feeding wild boars that they could face stiffer penalties if caught breaking the rules.

"I understand that a lot of Hong Kong people love the wetlands and nature. However, we also need to protect public safety. There were about 30 cases of wild boars attacking humans, we can't simply sit on our hands while things deteriorate," said Lam during a regular news conference earlier this week, the Associated Press reported.

The situation comes as, in recent years, videos of wild boars that have gone into urban areas have become much more frequent. One incident is where footage showed a group of boars frolicking in a fountain outside a Bank of China branch in Central and young boars riding the MTR.

The number of boar sightings and nuisance reports has jumped from 225 in 2011 to 1,002 last year. In the last decade, there have been 36 injury cases caused by wild pigs, four of which happened in 2018. In just the first half of 2021, authorities have already received 562 reports of boar sightings or nuisance reports, the South China Morning Post reported.

Related Article: Second Capitol Rioter Sentenced to 41 Months in Federal Prison; 'QAnon Shaman' Calls Himself a Good Man, Not an Insurrectionist