Credit: Danhe Yang.
By Danhe Yang, Debottam Bhattacharjee, Kate J. Flay, Yifu Wang, Hannah. S. Mumby, and Alan G. McElligott.
As cities grow and landscapes evolve, people are increasingly finding themselves sharing space with wildlife, which brings both challenges and opportunities. We want to better understand how Hong Kong residents—especially those living on Lantau Island—feel about contact with wildlife, specifically, the local free-ranging water buffalo.
We carried out a public survey and analysed the responses to explore people’s attitudes and values towards the water buffalo. We collected 657 responses—550 online and 107 through in-person interviews—with 56 participants leaving additional comments. The analysis showed that public attitudes toward the buffalo fall into four key categories: 1) appreciation and conditional acceptance of their presence; 2) concern about community impacts and calls for better management; 3) seeing them as valuable for conservation and education; and 4) individual perceptions formed through everyday encounters. Demographic factors also correlate with opinions, with differences based on age, gender, ethnicity, birthplace, and whether respondents lived on Lantau. Emotional responses were common in interviews, ranging from fondness for the buffalo to frustration over safety risks.
Our findings provide a clear picture of human-buffalo dynamics in Hong Kong’s suburban areas. By recognising the diverse views of residents, conservation strategies can be tailored to balance ecological protection with community needs, helping people and buffalo share the landscape more harmoniously.
Relational Thinking 