People help hungry Hong Kong cows - 17th February 2021

On Grass Island in Hong Kong, tourists are causing problems for cows.

Cows have lived on Grass Island for a long time. They share the island with just a few families of fishermen. The island is usually quiet. But now the island is busy.

People in Hong Kong can't travel to other countries because of the pandemic. So people are choosing Grass Island for their holidays. Tourists go for walks around the island. This destroys the grass that the cows eat.

But Lantau Buffalo Association is here to help. It is an organisation for Hong Kong's wild buffalos and cows. It is bringing grass from other areas of Hong Kong to the cows. Without the grass, the cows try to eat the rubbish which visitors leave on the island.

Jennifer Wai is a volunteer for Lantau Buffalo 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 head 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."

Lantau Buffalo Association is also teaching visitors to the island. The organisation tells tourists to take their rubbish with them after their holiday.