Two Hikers Seriously Injured After Wild Boar Attack In Navarra’s Ollo Valley Region

TWO people have been seriously injured after they were attacked by a wild boar in Navarra’s Ollo Valley region.

As reported by the 112 Emergency Services, the incident occurred at around 12:45 pm this Sunday, October 1, in the popular Manantial de Arteta hiking area of Ultzurrun municipality.

The coordinating centre immediately deployed an appliance from the Cordovilla Fire Brigade to the location, according to a statement from the Government of Navarra.

They were joined by members of the Fire Technical Rescue Group, a rescue helicopter, a medical helicopter, two medical ambulances and Foral Police patrol vehicles.

They both suffered serious injuries

The two injured people were evacuated from the scene by firefighters with the help of the rescue helicopter and then transferred to the University Hospital of Navarra, reported 20minutos.es.

A 66-year-old man reportedly suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to the hospital in the medical helicopter. The second victim was a 44-year-old woman who also sustained serious injuries and was transferred to the hospital in a medical ambulance.

The two victims were members of a hiking group

Both individuals were part of a group of hikers who were said to have been participating in an excursion in the Manantial de Arteta at the time of the wild boar attack.

The incident reportedly took place near the information centre. No other members of the group were injured as they managed to take refuge in some nearby trees.

Following the attack, the wild boar fled in the direction of the nearby Artazulo ravine. An investigation into the incident has been launched by the Provincial Police.

It has not been uncommon to see wild boar in urban areas recently

Wild boars have been increasingly coming into contact with humans this year. Most incidents seem to involve the animals leaving their habitat in search of food. As a result, they have ended up on beaches and been recorded wandering around the streets of Spanish cities.

A bizarre incident occurred on a beach in the Alicante municipality of Alfaz del Pi in June 2022, when a 67-year-old woman was bitten by a wild boar while sitting on the sand with her feet in the water.

The authorities in the Costa del Sol city of Marbella are trying to find a solution to the wild boar problem. On one occasion, a family of wild boars was filmed strolling along a beach while rummaging through beachgoers’ belongings, clearly in search of food.

In another incident, a bather encountered a herd of six wild boars investigating his belongings at a beach in the area.

A cyclist encountered an ‘inquisitive’ wild boar in Girona

In September, a meeting between a cyclist and a wild boar had a different outcome. Footage of their encounter in Spain subsequently went viral on Instagram.

The two came face-to-face on a mountain road in Girona with the subsequent ‘stand-off recorded by a spectator and finally posted online.

In the video, the animal did not appear to be aggressive, it looked to be more curious about the rider. The creature is seen attempting to sniff the man who – clearly unsure of the situation – in response, uses his bicycle to keep them separated.

Eventually, the creature looked like it had seen enough and simply ran away.

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