Authorities have begun to slaughter wild boars in Rome, claiming that the boar poses a potential threat to Italian pigs by spreading swine fever. Many countries have banned imports of pork from Rome, fearful for their own pigs.
The slaughter started in March, where carcasses infected with swine fever were found in northern Italy. A government task force plans on reducing the boar population by 50%.
Eradicating the disease might be an uphill battle though. Angelo Ferrari, an expert assigned by the government to address the swine fever, says, “I don’t see the eradication of the disease as a possibility, unless you bring about a strong reduction of the [boar] population. The thing is, there’s just too many of them.”
Activists are against exterminating so many boars. They propose sterilizing all of the boar to get rid of the disease. While this solution result in much less bloodshed, it would be difficult to execute, as there are simply too many boars to sterilize all of them.
The authorities now are hiring hunters and setting traps for the boars. Soon, the slaughter will kick into high gear. Swine fever would jeopardize the Italian pork industry that rakes in 20 billion dollars a year.
Source: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1658068976269x129744109329765550/African%20swine%20fever_%20boars%20that%20roam%20Rome%20must%20be%20killed%2C%20officials%20say%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf
The slaughter started in March, where carcasses infected with swine fever were found in northern Italy. A government task force plans on reducing the boar population by 50%.
Eradicating the disease might be an uphill battle though. Angelo Ferrari, an expert assigned by the government to address the swine fever, says, “I don’t see the eradication of the disease as a possibility, unless you bring about a strong reduction of the [boar] population. The thing is, there’s just too many of them.”
Activists are against exterminating so many boars. They propose sterilizing all of the boar to get rid of the disease. While this solution result in much less bloodshed, it would be difficult to execute, as there are simply too many boars to sterilize all of them.
The authorities now are hiring hunters and setting traps for the boars. Soon, the slaughter will kick into high gear. Swine fever would jeopardize the Italian pork industry that rakes in 20 billion dollars a year.
Source: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1658068976269x129744109329765550/African%20swine%20fever_%20boars%20that%20roam%20Rome%20must%20be%20killed%2C%20officials%20say%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf
