Urban Boars an Increasing Problem

We're seeing a spate of boars in urban areas these days.

Rome
www.npr.org...

Entire families of wild boars have become a daily sight in Rome, as groups of 10-30 beasts young and old emerge from the vast parks surrounding the city to trot down traffic-clogged streets in search of food in Rome's notoriously overflowing rubbish bins.
Posting wild boar videos on social media has become something of a sport as exasperated Romans capture the scavengers marching past their stores, strollers or playgrounds.

Barcelona (Spain)
www.latimes.com...

According to the BBC, the vocalist was attacked in a Barcelona park and is the latest victim of aggressive hogs that have invaded the Catalan capital in recent years. Boars are listed among the world’s most invasive species and can survive in almost any environment but have increasingly been drawn to urban areas where they live off garbage discarded by humans.

Hong Kong
news.rthk.hk...

The AFCD said it plans to conduct monthly operations to capture wild boars with dart guns with anaesthetics for humane dispatch.
It pointed out that some wild boars have gotten used to wandering busy urban areas and roads to find food.
The department said that injuries linked to the animal have also been on the rise, with an average of 10 cases per year in the past three years.

Haifa (Jerusalem)
www.jpost.com...

These boars are big, around the size of Rottweilers, and travel in packs. They are smart enough to break into gardens and trash cans, and can potentially turn violent.
Dealing with them is difficult, with Haifa residents having formed "pig patrols" to combat the boars. One resident actually created a 3D-printed whistle to deter wild boars.

there are references to Boars in cities in France and other places but I don't want to post linques on restricted / pay sites.

I wonder if this is universal among big cities, and just now getting notices? I noticed a few of these stories involved celebrities (Shakira, Coco Lee).

Well, at last y’all can join the club! When people scream about AR’s and 30 round mags, this is one of the reasons to keep them in your arsenal in Texas.

It’s been a problem here for quite a while with feral hogs. They are mostly nocturnal and absolutely destroy yards and fields in one night, then move on.

Hog hunts have become pretty popular as well. Farmers and land owners are more than happy to allow these hunts. Many outfits around Texas charge big money to go in helicopter hunts and the guided dog hunts. The helicopter is self explanatory but the dogs…yikes. I always thought there was something wrong with people who want to stab a giant hog to death with pits holding it.

Wild boars are a big problem across 35 US states. Being prolific breeders of about 6 piglets per litter, and 1.5 litters per year, they're impossible to control. They do an estimated $50,000,000 in damages to crops each year.
Arizona has javelinas of Arizona are much smaller, but can be quite ferocious and do a lot of damage in towns they inhabit.
Animals of all kinds seem to be making an effort to inhabit populated areas. Stop at a fast food restaurant in the greater Seattle area, but use the drive through; if you get out of your car you'll be surrounded by some angry, hungry raccoons that won't back down.

Put a substantial bounty on them NATION WIDE and it will slowly become controllable.

I'd switch careers!

Plus one to the pro hunting argument.
Hogs don't thrive this far north, but this year they're basically begging people to hunt deer and coyote... Without loosening up restrictions or required licensing.

For countries with boars that can't shoot 'em, watch some YouTube videos on hog hunts in the southern US. Then imagine your future, leaving these beasts unchecked.

We can all think of ourselves as too civilized to need things like guns until the wild boars show back up on our doorsteps.

Wild pigs are fun to hunt and even better to eat as smoked pulled pork.
Big old boars are to tough, but the young pigs about one-year-old are just right for eating.
My brother-in-law never buys meat. Between the hogs and deer he hunts in Texas they never need to.

I have a funny story tell.

2 or so years ago I was heading home from a little part time job I had at a little bar on a lake about 6 miles from my home.

It was around 8ish in the summer in the Northwoods.

As I'm pulling out onto the Highway I see far up ahead these two little critters wobbling across the road.

My first thought was "Wait, we don't have feral pigs up here." To my mind they looked like 2 little piglets going across the road.

Now you have to know, part of my life I had lived in the south.

As I got closer I realized they were 2 tiny bear cubs. Never saw Mama. That was the cutest thing I ever saw.

Anyway, after that incident, I got on line to see if in fact we had feral pigs up here.

And low and behold there are certain area of Wisconsin that are starting to have issues with feral pigs.

They have really expanded there territory.

a reply to: ElGoobero

All I got to say is .. Da's some dayum good eatin', chere.

Around these here parts, they're darn good eatin'.

I wouldn't be eating one of those nasty garbage infested swine! Wild pigs who have been feeding on corn or other crops, sure, I'd definitely bag one of those, but swine which has been eating festering putrid disease infected garbage...no freaking way!! just imagine all the needles, discarded feces and infected tissues etc from sick people! No freaking way!! Pigs will eat any damn thing (and they are what they eat).

You know, pigs are very close physiologically to humans, and diseases from pigs can easily be transmitted to humans.

You guys can have 'em!

a reply to: ElGoobero

Goob, they're not as bad as urbane bores, of which one finds far too many in cities!

Had boars and fox on our street in Europe last winter. Pigs grow larger than one might think.

Cheers

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

In Germany, wild boar meat provided by hunters is supposed to be tested for radioactive contamination; has to do with them rooting around in soil that got tetched by Chernobyl way back when.

Cheers

a reply to: ElGoobero

Wild boar bites police officer‘s leg, butt in bloody attack

Three police officers, along with personnel from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), were responding to a report about an injured boar on Tin Hau Temple Road when the incident happened. Two of the officers were equipped with shields.

While the boar was initially calm and hiding in a bush, it suddenly leapt at an auxiliary police officer—who did not have a shield—and knocked him over, biting his right calf and butt. The boar then ran towards the edge of a residential car park and fell 10 meters to its death.

coconuts.co...

I can see some people will argue over the definition of 'problem'.

. . . the Hong Kong Wild Boar Concern Group says humane dispatch is just a means of taking the lives of innocent animals
. . .
It urged the authorities to maintain its control strategy of giving contraceptive or sterilisation treatment to the boars
. . .

The group also said the government should organise planting activities to create a better living environment for wild animals so that they won't venture away from the countryside as often.

news.rthk.hk...

Contraceptive and sterilisation treatment has proven to be extremely difficult and can adversely affect other species.



Who would willingly introduce feral hogs to an area that does not have them?

. . . a team of experts . . . is exploring the potential to bring back . . . wild boar . . .

www.cornish-times.co.uk...

A team of experts. Oh great.


Wild boar are wild and difficult to approach. Feral hogs are sociable, happy creatures who will eat out of your hand, and maybe eat your hand.

'Wild boar bit part of my finger off'

www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk...

'Ferocious' boars who roam the Forest of Dean transformed into lovable piggies who will eat out of tourists' hands

www.dailymail.co.uk...

After reading this one I decided to take special care never to step on a piglet. RIP

His dentures and pieces of his body were found by a family member in the pig enclosure, but the rest of his remains had been consumed.

www.bbc.co.uk...

Simply raising your voice or lightly hitting your pig will be remembered by your pig for a long time. Pigs have great memories and can feel grateful for good things but can also hold grudges.

petpigworld.com...

It's going to be an ongoing issue.

While many research papers are trying to explain the reasons for growing populations, and their associated problems, it is hard to find scientific information on possible solutions.

www.europeanlandowners.org...

a reply to: ElGoobero

I could solve this problem, and the pork supply issue in a flash. I've got me a hankering for bbq boar ribs.

originally posted by: F2d5thCavv2
a reply to: ElGoobero

Goob, they're not as bad as urbane bores, of which one finds far too many in cities!

Had boars and fox on our street in Europe last winter. Pigs grow larger than one might think.

Cheers

This is often caused by people damaging local woodlands so that they cannot produce enough food for the boars, and leaving too much food waste in their Trash.

Animals cannot feed in one place so they go looking in another.

Seriously people, get Trash cans with locking lids.

a reply to: ElGoobero

I'm reminded of a video I saw some years back when I still had a (not-so) healthy level of morbid curiosity.

It showed a putrefying human corpse in the middle of the street in Venezuela, with a wild boar eating out the body cavity, I mean, it really was all up in there.

People were walking past this scene like it wasn't even a thing, wearing suits and just going about their days as normal.

POST REMOVED BY STAFF