About the Project

The feral cattle of Hong Kong were once used as draught animals, but after rapid urban development and the decline of agricultural activities in the late 20th century, many farmers released their cattle into the wild. Nowadays, feral cattle are regarded as part of the local heritage, and live independently in surrounding country parks, where they have continued to live and reproduce in feral groups. The cattle are mostly found in the New Territories and some herds can be found in Lantau, with approximately 905 brown cattle in Hong Kong in 2022.

Feral cattle present a unique opportunity to study a domesticated animal population which can choose their associates and group mates, and to examine the health, welfare, social behaviour, and urban interactions of cattle in a free-ranging environment. With their novel history, the Hong Kong cattle also carry a unique genetic combination; the cattle themselves are genetically distinct from other Bos indicus and Bos taurus populations, with high heterogeneity in colour and body type.

• The uniqueness of Hong Kong feral cattle
  • The Hong Kong feral cattle provide the opportunity to explore the position of large mammals in urban areas, and to characterise the needs and diversity of this unique population. Urban environments are known to impact both feral and wild populations in several ways, from cognitive to social changes, parasite burden and social structure.
• Social behaviour in Hong Kong feral cattle
  • Cattle are promising candidates for studying social behaviour, as they are social ungulates which express affiliative and agonistic behaviours between individuals. This research project aims to study behaviour in adult free-ranging feral cattle, recording their social interactions. It will also investigate patterns of affiliation and aggression, bystander effects, and social bonds within different groups.

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