You never know what surprises you`re
going to uncover at about 7 a.m on a humid Thursday morning when most rational
people would still be in bed,but I couldn`t sleep,which is fortunate as it turns
out as I added yet another bit of data to the already huge mountain that is the
would-be `Mystery Animals of Hong Kong` bestseller!
So here we go, is or was the
Eurasian Lynx part of Hong Kong`s fauna? After at least 6 months I took a look
at the Gwulo Hong Kong History Forum and to my surprise found the following
exchange of messages:
January 24th 2013 Gary
Liddell to David (the moderator of the Forum): The fauna of Hong Kong
Is there any truth in the rumour
(much passed around when I was a kid) that a Japanese patrol boat shot a tiger
swimming across the harbour during the occupation.
I recall vividly being baled (sic)
up by a very grumpy lynx type cat in the Golden Hill Shingmun area (pointy ears
bob tailed & spotty coat very large) Can any one throw some light on what
the cat was?
Regards Gary Liddell
Someone called `Jill` replied on
January 28th.
There are some good photos of the
Eurasian Lynx in this pdf article http://www.catsg.org/catnews/03_specialissue/cats_in_china/Bao_Weidong_2010_Eurasian_lynx_in_China.pdf
Do they look like your bob-tailed
cat,Gary
Good morning Jill, That`s definetely the fellow. From
memory the year was 1961 & I was walking along the Golden Hill road from the
direction of Tai Po Road along side the reservoir when he came out of the bush
about 20 ft in front of me stopped looked at me & started hissing and
spitting. A fine carry on . Needless to say I was quite put off with all the
carry on.
Finally he went about his business leaving me in quite a
state. I know according to your map [in the pdf link above, showing the Eurasian
Lynx`s “official “ range is West and North China,hundreds of miles away.- R]
these grumpy critters aren`t supposed to be in Hong Kong but there you have it.
Thank you so much for enlightening
me.
Kind regards Gary Liddell.
So I have written to Gary
