Hong Kong is typically known for its vibrant cityscape; however,
approximately 75% of its land area consists of country parks, and it is
home to populations of feral cattle and water buffalo. Bovids are hugely
important livestock globally (approx 208 million
buffalo, and approx 1 billion cattle), but our understanding of their
behaviour, health and welfare is primarily driven by research conducted
in farm environments. Hong Kong’s feral bovids present a unique
opportunity to observe their social structure, behaviour
and health under free-ranging conditions. Once used as draught animals
but released after the decline of agricultural activity in the 1970’s,
Hong Kong bovids continue to live and reproduce in the country parks. We
have been investigating aspects of their
behaviour, health and welfare with our current team of PhD and
postdoctoral researchers. This project offers the opportunity for the
successful candidate to further explore an area that they find
particularly interesting within the broader topic. Ideas will
be further developed with the project supervisors.
Our feral water buffalo research project website:
https://www.hkbuffaloresearch.org/
Our feral cattle research project website:
https://hkcattleresearch.org/
Interested applicants are invited to submit a cover letter and short,
2-page CV, via email to Prof. McElligott and Prof. Flay on or before
October 7th, 2024,
although we would be very happy to receive and review applications from now [July 2024] on.
CVs must include degree grade details and GPA scores, because they are a
requirement of the graduate school admissions system of City University
of Hong Kong.