香港夫妇行山疑遇老虎 警方搜山无发现

Hong Kong’s authorities have searched a country park after receiving a call from a couple who claimed to have spotted a tiger in the area.

香港当局接到一对声称在该地区发现老虎的夫妇的电话后，搜查了一个郊野公园。

However police found no trace of the animal, which was described as yellow and 90cm (3ft) long. It is now thought the couple may have seen a leopard cat.

然而警方没有发现任何动物的痕迹， 该动物被描述为黄色，长达90厘米（3英尺）。现在认为这对夫妇见到的可能是一只豹猫。

Experts say tigers have not been seen in Hong Kong for more than 50 years.

专家说，50多年来，老虎在香港并没有出现过。

Leopard cats, which can grow up to about 70cm in length, are found in parts of Asia including China.

豹猫可以长到70厘米左右，分布在亚洲部分地区，包括中国。

The couple called the police on Tuesday morning after they saw the animal on Ma On Shan Country Park. They were escorted downhill by an officer.

周二早上，这对夫妇在马鞍山郊野公园看到这只动物后，就打电话给警察。他们被一名军官护送下山。

"They claimed the animal was yellow in colour and measured about 3 feet by 2 feet. They were worried, so they called police," a police spokesman told the South China Morning Post.

警方发言人告诉《南华早报》：“他们声称该动物颜色发黄，尺寸约3英尺乘2英尺，出于担心，他们打电话给警察。”

The couple were sent to hospital suffering from shock, Radio Television Hong Kong reported.

据香港电台报道，这对夫妇遭受惊吓后被送往医院。

The couple were later shown photos of various feline animals - and said a photo of a leopard cat was similar to the animal they saw.

这对夫妇后来被展示了各种猫科动物的照片 - 并说豹猫的照片与他们所看到的动物相似。

Dr Michael Lau, a director at the WWF’s Wetlands Conservation department, told the BBC it was "highly unlikely" that the animal they saw was a wild tiger.

世界自然基金会湿地保护部门的一位负责人Michael Lau博士告诉BBC，他们看到的动物“非常不可能”是野生老虎。

"The South China tiger is probably extirpated from the region, plus the size of the animal is small and if it were a tiger it would be a cub, [meaning that] its mother would be nearby and likely signs of kills would be seen by people," Dr Lau said.

“华南虎可能从该地区消灭了，再加上该动物的体型很小，如果它是一只老虎，它会是一只幼仔，[意思是说]它的母亲会在附近，那么人们也会看到被杀死的猎物，“刘博士说。

"Hong Kong also no longer has enough space to support tigers. The last substantiated tiger sighting was in Shatin in 1947."

“香港也没有足够的空间来养活老虎，最后一次被证实的目击老虎是1947年在沙田。”

Timothy Bonebrake of the School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, told the BBC "the likelihood of it being a tiger is close to zero per cent", and added that "leopard cats that are relatively abundant in parts of Hong Kong".

香港大学生物科学学院的Timothy Bonebrake告诉BBC，“这只老虎的可能性接近百分之零”，并补充说：“在香港部分地区有相对丰富的豹猫数量”。

While the South China tiger is considered to be "functionally extinct", the Leopard Cat population is considered stable.

虽然华南虎被认为是“功能性灭绝”，但豹猫种群被认为是稳定的。

Leopard cats typically have yellow or reddish brown coats with dark spots and streaks, and are nocturnal.

豹猫通常有黄色或红棕色外套，有黑斑和条纹，并且是夜行性的。