In the past decade, wild boars roaming Rome have caused chaos in Italy. Wreaking havoc among citizens, disrupting traffic, and encroaching on the Vatican.
People see the boars as symbols of urban decay or cute piglets. The boars could spread African swine fever, which is harmless to humans but deadly to pigs. Pig farms, which create and support over 100 thousand jobs, are crucial in supporting the economy in Italy. Many nations have already imposed bans on Italian pork.
A government task force found that over 50% of wild boars carried the virus. Angelo Ferrari, an expert assigned by the government to address the boar crisis, said, “I don’t see the eradication of the disease as a possibility unless you bring about a strong reduction of the population. The thing is, there’s just too many of them.”
Even as thousands of boars are culled, many more swarm into the city through parks that wind around the outskirts. According to Ferrari, the plan is to lure the boars into a so-called “Red Zone” in the city and wall them off with special nets and gates. Some trash cans are being modified to keep boars out.
This crisis is having such a toll on the pig industry that when two infected pigs were found on a local farm, over 1,200 pigs had to be culled. The worst has yet to come. In the northern part of Italy, where massive pig farms lie, the lives of tens of thousands of pigs will be ravaged if the boars infect the livestock.
People see the boars as symbols of urban decay or cute piglets. The boars could spread African swine fever, which is harmless to humans but deadly to pigs. Pig farms, which create and support over 100 thousand jobs, are crucial in supporting the economy in Italy. Many nations have already imposed bans on Italian pork.
A government task force found that over 50% of wild boars carried the virus. Angelo Ferrari, an expert assigned by the government to address the boar crisis, said, “I don’t see the eradication of the disease as a possibility unless you bring about a strong reduction of the population. The thing is, there’s just too many of them.”
Even as thousands of boars are culled, many more swarm into the city through parks that wind around the outskirts. According to Ferrari, the plan is to lure the boars into a so-called “Red Zone” in the city and wall them off with special nets and gates. Some trash cans are being modified to keep boars out.
This crisis is having such a toll on the pig industry that when two infected pigs were found on a local farm, over 1,200 pigs had to be culled. The worst has yet to come. In the northern part of Italy, where massive pig farms lie, the lives of tens of thousands of pigs will be ravaged if the boars infect the livestock.
