( dpa ) - A Hong Kong man was rescued by firefighters after being caught in an illegal animal trap set on a hillside of the former British colony, police said Friday.
The incident, the second involving a person being injured by an animal trap in the last two weeks, prompted a warning to Easter hikers to take care on hillsides.
The latest victim, a 52-year-old man, was climbing a hill in the Yuen Long area Thursday morning to collect herbs to make Chinese medicine when he stepping on the trap that snapped shut on his legs.
He was unable to free himself but called for help on his mobile phone.
Firefighters took one hour to find the man in the densely foliated hillside and then had to carry him down the hillside on a stretcher still with his leg in the trap after failing to remove it at the scene.
They freed him using a jack to open the jaw of the trap. He was taken to hospital and later discharged after treatment.
Last Tuesday, a 59-year-old hiker was injured after being snared by a similar trap on a hillside.
The traps are believed to be set to catch wild boar that are relatively common in Hong Kong's countryside, which covers more than 70 per cent of its 1,078 square kilometres, much of it densely foliated and mountainous.
A government spokesperson said country park staff had been ordered to look out for similar traps and to warn villagers that setting such traps was illegal but urged hikers to stay alert.