Andalucia Announces Measures To Cut Down On Wild Boar

Is the invasion of wild boar in Malaga and other parts of Andalusia turning city streets into a battleground? And what is behind their recent sightings?

The Ministry of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy in Andalusia announced ‘exceptional’ measures to control the wild boar population in areas such as Marbella and Cabo de Gata in Almería, where the invasion has become a serious concern, writes Nuis Diario, Tuesday, August 8

Local Residents Live In Fear Of Wild Boar

‘We are desperate, it is dangerous,’ laments Félix, a resident of Cabo de Gata, describing how wild boar have lost their fear of people. ‘We can’t even go out to throw out the garbage anymore because they have lost their fear of people and they come to you. So much that people get scared and throw the bags in the middle of the street.’

In broad daylight, herds of wild boar, ‘twenty or thirty,’ search for food and destroy everything in their path. ‘They break the irrigation sprinklers, the grass, the containers,’ says Félix.

Some tourists are caught off guard and feed the wild boar, leading to local residents putting up posters with the warning, ‘Stop giving food to the animals. You are to blame for any accident that occurs with humans or pets. This has gone too far, it is not fun, it is not a good act, it is not animalistic and this is not a zoo.’

Council Announces Selective Hunting

In Marbella, the wild boar in Malaga invade beaches, rummaging through belongings in search of food. To address this, the Ministry has authorized the ‘selective’ hunting of wild boar, as well as deer, fallow deer, and mouflon, between June 30 and August 27, with stalking and guarding at night for wild boar.

This action was prompted by drought-caused food and water scarcity leading to ‘inadequate’ density of animal populations, possibly causing increased diseases among wild animals and damage to natural habitats, vegetation, and livestock farms.

To guarantee the ‘resilience and sustainability’ of these species, the Ministry, led by Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, implemented exceptional measures to reduce their numbers to an ‘appropriate’ size.

Wild Boar A Problem Throughout Spain

The problem of wild boar is not confined to southern Spain. In the early hours of Tuesday, August 8, two 18-year-olds were killed in Chantada, Galicia, after their car collided with a wild boar that broke onto the road.