Authorities in Spain claim that because wild boars pose a threat to people but have become accustomed to scavenging, they are unable to live in the wild and must instead be captured and put to death.
The wild boars roam or lie about in parks and suburban streets, drawn to garbage cans and people who feed them. They frequently cause scooter and bicycle accidents and annoy individuals who are carrying shopping bags.
In the northeastern seaside town of Cadaques, near Barcelona, a girl was injured and sent to the hospital this month after coming into contact with a wild boar.
Barcelona alone reported 1,200 incidents involving wild boars last year. Colombian popstar Shakira said the animals had attacked her and her son as they walked in a Barcelona park.
“No veterinarian likes to kill animals,” Carles Conejero, a veterinary technician in charge of a programme to control the boar problem in Barcelona, told Reuters. “But we have to do it… We cannot release them back into the wild because they have lost their instincts.”
Later that night Conejero’s team used drop nets to capture a breeding group of wild boars, which squealed loudly before being sedated and then euthanised.
“This is the worst part of the job,” said Conejero as he piled up the dead animals in a van.
Although the problem is not new in Spain, it got worse during the COVID-19 pandemic when more wild animals ventured into urban areas that had turned much quieter due to lockdowns.
Apart from the scheduled captures, Barcelona’s plan to tackle the boar encroachment includes protection of trash bins, fines for residents who feed the animals and social awareness campaigns. Dead boars are studied for diseases and food habits.
Local residents agreed that the habit of feeding the boars must stop.
“The problem is that they stop being wild animals, they just roam about like cats,” said Alex, 40.
Spain’s Hunting Resources Research Institute estimates that the wild boar population will surpass two million next year.