- WHAT’S HAPPENING | ISLAND WIDE -
HOW NOW BROWN COW? Repor t i n g by Elizabe t h Jer abe k Ph otos by D uey Tam
H
op in,” Kathy Dixon says with a twinkle in her eye. She has just arrived at the Tai O bus terminus and is excited to show us the local herd of feral cows that she spotted on her drive over from Shui Hau to meet us. It’s immediately clear that Kathy has a deep personal connection to this particular herd of cows as she greets each one individually by name and checks to see if any need a check-up from the Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD). But she wants to make it clear that she did not put out the bales of hay near Lin Yan Monastery. Out of concern for a lack of natural foraging during the winter dry season, the Lantau Buffalo Association periodically distributes bales of hay amongst the herds of more than 200 feral cows and buffalo that live on Lantau. Kathy shakes her head and affectionately scolds the cows for gorging on the hay as she asks mischievously, “I don’t think they look like they’re starving. Do you?”
C OM M UN I T Y C ATTL E GRO U P
Kathy Dixon is chair of the TOCCG; Lantau’s cows are ours to protect; The feral herd that roams Tai O
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LIFE ON LANTAU | APRIL/MAY 2021
As the chairperson for the Tai O Community Cattle Group (TOCCG), a registered Hong Kong charity since 2019, Kathy’s priority is to protect the welfare of Lantau’s cows as wild animals. “They’re not pets and they can take care of themselves, as they have been doing for many, many years,” says Kathy. “We – as people – are their biggest threat.
