A wildlife expert and social media users have expressed concerns about the forceful approach used by a district councillor and two other men to free a trapped barking deer, warning they should have sought help from professionals.
Tai Po district councillor Chan Siu-keen posted footage of the incident on social media on Wednesday, with the clip showing him and two other men freeing the animal, also known as a muntjac, from a railing by forcefully pulling its rear legs – causing the barking deer to struggle.
But some social media users said that barking deer could be easily frightened and potentially die of a heart attack from shock.
Chan said he discovered the trapped animal, crying out helplessly, as he passed by Hung Lam Drive in Tai Po Kau.
“It was injured and unable to move, and its body was bleeding. Everyone immediately joined forces to carefully lift it out and release it back into the forest,” he said.
The clip also shows that, after the trio pulls the barking deer out of the fence, they lift it over the railing and drop it on the other side, causing it to briefly roll down a slope. It then quickly disappears into the forest.
Chan defended the trio’s approach, arguing the animal was trapped and bleeding. “I cannot leave it injured and bleeding like this,” he said.