Wild boars living in the city of Rome are causing many problems for the citizens. They have been eating trash, causing traffic, and even sometimes attacking people.
However, the biggest problem by far is the spreading of African Swine Fever, a dangerous virus that doesn’t harm humans, but kills 98% of pigs it comes into contact with.
Pigs are a big industry in Rome, and they support about 100,000 jobs. The African Swine Fever threatens to ruin it. Many countries have already put import bans on Italian pork because of the virus, and if nothing is done it will only get worse.
The government’s proposed solution is to eliminate the source: the boars. In March, a government task force was created with the goal of killing off half of the boars living in Italy. However, wiping out the virus completely could be very hard.
“I don’t see the eradication of the disease as a possibility, unless you bring about a strong reduction of the [boar] population,” says Angelo Ferrari, one of the experts dealing with the boars.
The reason for the amount of boars is because of a recent influx in their population, which was caused by multiple factors. One reason is because of the boars’ behavioral traits.
“The wild boar is not unlike us: smart, social, lives in groups, super adaptable, omnivorous: It’s an animal for all seasons, and habitats,” says Luigi Boitani, a zoologist at Sapienza University.
The boar is also thriving due to high reproduction rates and lack of many large predators.
The government has already started placing traps around the city and hired hunters, who have already killed about 3,500 wild boars in Piedmont.
With no vaccine or treatment of African Swine Fever, Boars may not continue to live on the streets of Rome for much longer, bringing down the virus with them.
Source Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/17/wild-boars-rome-italy-african-swine-fever-cull/
However, the biggest problem by far is the spreading of African Swine Fever, a dangerous virus that doesn’t harm humans, but kills 98% of pigs it comes into contact with.
Pigs are a big industry in Rome, and they support about 100,000 jobs. The African Swine Fever threatens to ruin it. Many countries have already put import bans on Italian pork because of the virus, and if nothing is done it will only get worse.
The government’s proposed solution is to eliminate the source: the boars. In March, a government task force was created with the goal of killing off half of the boars living in Italy. However, wiping out the virus completely could be very hard.
“I don’t see the eradication of the disease as a possibility, unless you bring about a strong reduction of the [boar] population,” says Angelo Ferrari, one of the experts dealing with the boars.
The reason for the amount of boars is because of a recent influx in their population, which was caused by multiple factors. One reason is because of the boars’ behavioral traits.
“The wild boar is not unlike us: smart, social, lives in groups, super adaptable, omnivorous: It’s an animal for all seasons, and habitats,” says Luigi Boitani, a zoologist at Sapienza University.
The boar is also thriving due to high reproduction rates and lack of many large predators.
The government has already started placing traps around the city and hired hunters, who have already killed about 3,500 wild boars in Piedmont.
With no vaccine or treatment of African Swine Fever, Boars may not continue to live on the streets of Rome for much longer, bringing down the virus with them.
Source Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/17/wild-boars-rome-italy-african-swine-fever-cull/
