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Hong Kong cows go hungry - 17th February 2021

Cows on this Hong Kong island are going hungry after an increase in the number of visitors to their home.

The cows have inhabited Grass Island for generations, alongside a handful of fishing families. However, the Covid-19 pandemic is attracting more tourists.

Hong Kongers are coming to camp on the island because coronavirus restrictions are preventing overseas travel. The tourists' hiking has turned the islands' grassy fields to dirt. This leaves little for the cows to eat.

However, Lantau Buffalo Association, an activist group for the wild buffalos and cows of Hong Kong, has come to the island to help. Volunteers are transporting grass from other areas in Hong Kong to Grass Island to feed the cows.

Without the grass, the hungry cows turn to rubbish which has been left behind by the visitors. Jennifer Wai volunteers for the association.

Jennifer Wai: "We, we saw cows going to the bins and hunting for food. And we saw them eat buckets of like, candy that are, like, still wrapped in bottle, and they ate the whole thing. Yeah. And, it was, it was heartbroke, heartbreaking to see."

Ho Loy is the chairwoman of Lantau Buffalo Association.

Ho Loy:"Many of the cow you can see that they have like a strange, swollen stomach, which mean they have a certain amount of plastic in their, in their digestion system already."

The association also hopes to educate the island's tourists. Volunteers instruct visitors not to throw their rubbish away on the island.