HONG KONG, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Wild boars causing nuisance in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) have sparked a new round of discussions among officials, legislators and district council members.

Animal protection has been given much attention in Hong Kong, but when wild boars are messing up trash cans, walking in downtown fearlessly and even attacking people, the society has called for actions to tackle the problem.

Last week, how to deal with the wild animal has ignited heated debate at the legislative council of HKSAR and the district level.

Responding to questions raised by legislators, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) of the HKSAR government said 679 cases of wild pig sighting or nuisance were reported from January to October 2018, of which five of them involved injury to people.

Tai Po and Eastern district councils held meetings respectively earlier this month to address the issue. Some even suggested introducing natural predators to kill wild boars.

It was also recommended that wild boars be moved to uninhabited islands. However, wild boars are good at swimming and they could easily swim back to the urban areas to look for food, according to the AFCD.

The AFCD has adopted a multi-pronged approach in managing wild boars, such as reducing food attraction and advising people not to feed wild animals.

To control wild boar population, the AFCD last year rendered contraceptive treatments to 48 wild pigs, which could last for four to six years.