Hong Kong’s nocturnal wildlife on view in a Kadoorie Farm night walk
- A night walk at the 148-hectare Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden reveals some rarely seen native species, from snakes to birds and mammals
When thinking about Hong Kong’s nightlife, the city’s abundance of bars and clubs might be the first thing that comes to mind. But if you know where to look, there’s another fascinating type of nightlife to be found in the city: that of Hong Kong’s native nocturnal animals.
Indeed, the city’s reputation as a buzzing metropolis has long belied its rich biodiversity, and now, with summer in full swing, the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) has brought back its popular night walk programme to give urbanites the opportunity to discover the range of nocturnal wildlife that exists within its 148-hectare (365-acre) conservation area in Tai Po, in the New Territories.
Aside from the prospect of seeing frogs, snakes and birds, the walk – depending on the night – also holds the possibility of a porcupine sighting and hearing the calls of barking deer.
Held twice a month from May until November every year, the night walk is the successor of KFBG’s night safari, which originated in the early 2000s.
“In the early days, when I was exploring the centre with [now-chairman] Andrew McAuley, we were just kind of looking everywhere,” says Gary Ades, head of KFBG’s fauna conservation department.
“We were going up the small paths, walking around, looking at places [that] could be turned into some kind of education feature.”
