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Fiona Sun

Hong Kong conservation workers had a prickly problem to deal with on Friday – a porcupine hiding under a vehicle in an office building car park.
The animal was captured but not without putting up a struggle and losing a load of its sharp spines, or quills.
A security guard alerted police at 10.17am on Friday that a porcupine had been found under a vehicle in the car park of the C C Wu Building in Wan Chai.
The animal, which was about 0.5 metres long and weighed around 5kg, was caught and taken away by Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department staff.
No one was injured, the force added.
Online video footage shows department workers using a long-handled net to catch the struggling porcupine, with quills scattered on the ground.

Porcupines, which are large rodents, have coats of sharp spines that act as protection against predators. The quills detach easily from the animal’s body and can become embedded in an attacker.
The department said the porcupine was taken to Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in Lam Tsuen for observation and treatment.
The farm said no fractures or obvious injuries were detected in an X-ray on the porcupine, a subadult female.
“Although no fracture or injury is detected, her vision is still in doubt, so a few more days of observation are needed,” it said, adding that euthanasia was possible if the animal was permanently blind.
“Chinese porcupines are highly opportunistic animals. They have bad vision but are highly sensitive to smell. They forage around and look for edible plants.”
The animals are common and widely distributed in Hong Kong, and generally live in the countryside.
The department said porcupines generally avoided people and would not normally cause a nuisance, but the public should avoid approaching or disturbing them.
Residents who found injured porcupines could alert the department, or call police for help in an emergency, it added.
Hong Kong is home to only one species of the animal – the East Asian or Malayan porcupine.


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Animal welfare in Hong Kong

Workers use a long-handled net to catch the animal. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong is home to only one species of the animal – the East Asian porcupine. Photo: Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden

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Hong Kong

Society

Porcupine found under vehicle in the car park of the C C Wu Building in Wan Chai


Porcupine found under vehicle in the car park of the C C Wu Building in Wan Chai.


Hong Kong society

Animals