Wild boars are everywhere. Especially in Italy! These boars are a handful—disrupting traffic, feasting on refuse, and generally being annoying. However, authorities suspect that boars could spread African swine fever, which is deadly to pigs raised commercially, a business that gives the people over 100,000 jobs. The fear of this virus has prompted many countries to put bans on pork.
A task force created in March planned to lower the boar’s population by 50% when it was brought to their attention that carcasses infected with the virus were found in northwestern Italy and more recently, in Rome.
Some reasons why the boar population has risen too much include a lack of predators such as wolves, and that the female boars are having too many babies. The problem gained attention when the Colombian singer Shakira Ripoll was attacked by a pair of wild boars in 2021.
The plan is to let the virus infect wild boars in designated areas, cut off by special nets and gates. Trash cans are being modified to keep the boars from eating the trash inside.
The virus itself has neither treatment nor vaccine yet. It kills 98% of the swine it infects. African swine fever can survive on surfaces and even in the soil.
Roberto Vecchio, the head of an anti-hunting league, believes that killing the wild boars should only be a last resort. “The boars should instead be sterilized, and carted off to be set free,” he says.
Article: African swine fever_ boars that roam Rome must be killed, officials say – The Washington Post.pdf
A task force created in March planned to lower the boar’s population by 50% when it was brought to their attention that carcasses infected with the virus were found in northwestern Italy and more recently, in Rome.
Some reasons why the boar population has risen too much include a lack of predators such as wolves, and that the female boars are having too many babies. The problem gained attention when the Colombian singer Shakira Ripoll was attacked by a pair of wild boars in 2021.
The plan is to let the virus infect wild boars in designated areas, cut off by special nets and gates. Trash cans are being modified to keep the boars from eating the trash inside.
The virus itself has neither treatment nor vaccine yet. It kills 98% of the swine it infects. African swine fever can survive on surfaces and even in the soil.
Roberto Vecchio, the head of an anti-hunting league, believes that killing the wild boars should only be a last resort. “The boars should instead be sterilized, and carted off to be set free,” he says.
Article: African swine fever_ boars that roam Rome must be killed, officials say – The Washington Post.pdf
