Tiger was shot on the street in Hong Kong?
Yes. A real tiger was shot and killed on the street in Hong Kong, but that was happened in Stanley in 1942.
The evidence was shown in Tin Hau Temple, Stanley.
In 1942, Hong Kong was under the occupation of Japanese. After the governor of Hong Kong British government surrendered, Hong Kong police force was dismissed and many former European police officers were *kept in camp. Chinese and Indian police officers were recruited as police officers by the Japanese government at that time and were renamed as “Kenpei”.
Some Indian Kenpei were assigned to work at one of the civilian camps as guards in Stanley.
For weeks there had been rumours in the Camp that a tiger was roaming around at night. As rumours were always prevalent, most internees refused to believe such a "preposterous" tale.
Some of the Indian guards reported that they had also seen the tiger's mate and two cubs, but these were never found.
30 guards were sent to trace the tiger. Later it was found in front of Stanley Police Station. One of the Kenpei “Singh” fired at the tiger and killed it.
One of the internees, who had been a butcher with the Dairy Farm Company in Hong Kong before the war, was taken out of the Camp to skin the tiger. The skin was given to the guard who killed the tiger as award and was later kept in the Tin Hau Temple from 1979 until now.
There was a description next to the tiger skin which says “This tiger weighed 240 pounds, was 73 inches long and 3 feet height...”
You may wonder why a tiger was found on Hong Kong Island. Some said it was from the circus in Causeway Bay at that time. One of the possible guess is tiger was a luxury food for locals in the old times. It might be unbelievable that people would actually eat tiger, but in fact the tiger killed in Stanley was later eaten by the locals.
As The Hongkong News reported that "thanks to the generosity of a Nipponese officer, some officials of the Hong Kong Race Club were recently given the rare treat of having a feast of tiger meat. The meat, which was as tender and delicious as beef, was from the tiger shot at Stanley.”
The tiger skin is still hanging inside the temple, so check it out when you are around Stanley!
Other spots in Stanley:
https://www.hongkonguide.com/blog/what-s-good-about-stanley
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Address: Stanley Tin Hau Temple, Stanley
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