Can hunting end the wild boar plague?

BarcelonaIt is estimated that there are around 200,000 wild boars in Catalonia, distributed unevenly across the territory. A monitoring program has been in place for two decades, documenting the differences in population density: there are more than fifteen animals per square kilometer in Alt Empordà and Les Gavarres, fewer than three in Els Ports de Tortosa-Beseit, and between three and six along the coast. Collserola ParkThe area is where the outbreak of African swine fever, which has raised all the alarms, is concentrated. Generous rainfall, an abundance of holm oaks, oaks, and beech forests, along with extensive irrigated crops, favor the proliferation of these animals, which generally follow an upward demographic trend. In fact, the Catalan government's program indicates that "wild boar populations do not appear to be close to reaching their peak and have the potential to continue growing."

The wild boar's demographic success is mainly due to its extraordinary adaptability, and today they have become a "pest in most metropolitan areas worldwide," notes Jordi Serra-Cobo, a distinguished researcher at the University of Barcelona. The combination of urban development pressure and the abandonment of crops and the natural environment means that these animals have "food more readily available, without needing to expend energy searching for it in the countryside," and therefore, it is easier for them to raise their young, he indicates.

The usual images of entire families of wild boars rummaging through the containers And by eating garbage, they illustrate the extent of their proximity to humans. This causes problems in the form of traffic accidents, but also damage to wooded areas and especially to farmers' cultivated fields, where they feast on grain and fruit. Thus, being easily well-fed, they ensure good physical condition and a high reproductive rate, explains the researcher, who also highlights the wild boar's "balancing function" because, for example, it regulates holm oak forests.

Risk Warning

Farmers have been warning for years, if not decades, that the proliferation of wild boars is endangering primary sector activities, especially those surrounding large cities. The holes they dig in the ground leave the land like minefields, destroying field margins, eroding the soil, and rummaging through seeds and grains until "it becomes impossible to cultivate anything," explains Miquel Canals, president of the Association of Agricultural and Forestry Owners of Castellví de Rosanes (APECRO). In his opinion, "only large monoculture farms like the vineyards of the Penedès region are spared," while on smallholdings like his, when several wild boars enter the fields in a single night, they devastate everything. "They don't leave a single grape on the vines; it's impossible to grow vegetables, or any kind of fruit," he lists, adding that in the forests they wipe out the "biodiversity of the flora and fauna."

In the same vein, Carme Rosset, the Unió de Pagesos delegate in Pla de l'Estany, recalls that in 1984 "they were already being called a plague," but that government after government "have turned a blind eye" and have not seriously addressed the problem, beyond – she affirms – targeted raidsUntil, once again, the African swine fever outbreak erupted. "It was inevitable that it would happen one day, everyone saw it coming, but we warned about it so much, it's like the wolf is coming," complains the union representative, who demands an end to "plan after plan" and "finally control of the wildlife," just as livestock farmers are required to have exhaustive hair inspections. Rosset is pleased that the Department of Agriculture is "getting its act together" and has requested the army's intervention to hunt wild boars, even if it has to be due to the severity of the plague, a disease that can jeopardize the continued operation of livestock farms. "If wild boars ate politicians or civil servants, everything would already be solved," she quips.

Regional Minister Òscar Ordeig met this Thursday with the technical group on game wildlife to address the containment of African swine fever and coordinate wild boar control measures as a priority. Therefore, there will be an urgent increase in roundups and other capture methods "until further notice." "We must increase the pressure urgently and continuously to reduce current wild boar densities," the minister admitted.

Shelters and safe places

Authorized hunting raids are welcomed by farmers and ranchers if the aim is to avoid "ruining" the sector. For Rosset, wild boars are "thieves of the fields" that must be kept under control, but with a minimum population maintained to guarantee "biodiversity." Canals acknowledges that while hunters perform "a control function, it is not enough," especially in densely populated areas like the metropolitan area, which, he says, have become "refuges and quiet places" because hunting wild boars "is not permitted" due to human proximity. The complexity of the issue is demonstrated by the fact that the wild boar population periodically resurfaces in public debate. Given this multifaceted reality, Jaume Grau of Ecologists in Action calls for addressing the issue without focusing solely on hunting, because they deny that there is overpopulation and, even more so, that wild boars constitute a plague. Grau focuses the debate on the human element and how the ease with which they obtain waste feeds them well and "makes them more docile." Control cannot be limited to simply reducing the population of these wild animals; it must also involve introducing "elements that restore environmental balance." On this point, he points to improved forest management and urban planning to avoid building more roads and housing developments, thereby reducing interaction with humans.

Grau agrees with Serra-Cobo in pointing out other, more expensive but less drastic, options, such as sterilization with hormone injections or special feeds that have been tested in pilot programs. They also emphasize the need to raise awareness that providing food to animals is unacceptable because it has serious repercussions, the researcher notes. And then there's the controversial reintroduction of wolves. However, the ecologist clarifies that this is only acceptable in specific areas and, obviously, not in one with such high population density and urban activity as Collserola Park.