The presence in the city has relaunched the problem which, however, is being felt more and more in the countryside. Because the presence of wild boars is growing and the damage to agriculture is also increasing, amounting to 120 million euros in a five-year period (in 2021 alone, attendances were estimated at one and a half million heads).
Piedmont and Abruzzo the most affected
A phenomenon that affects most regions of Italy, in particular Abruzzo and Piedmont, but spares the autonomous province of Bolzano. Outlining this scenario are the results of the national survey of Ispra, the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, on the management of wild boar in the national territory in the five years from 2015 to 2021. The data, which are part of a study elaborated through the analysis of over 700 documents and technical reports speak for themselves: the growth of felling (also called withdrawals) and damages continues.
growing phenomenon
In the five years examined, levies increased by 45 per cent and on average around 300,000 wild boars were slaughtered each year. Of these 257,000 in ordinary hunting while 42,000 in wildlife control interventions. The damage caused to agriculture was also significant, ranging between 14.6 and 18.7 million euros, with an annual average of over 17 million euros. The investigation carried out by Ispra, «the first detailed national scale» created using the information provided by the Regions and Protected Areas, also makes it possible to draw up a ranking with the most affected regions. And in which the damage caused by wild boars is most felt. These are Abruzzo and Piedmont with, respectively, around 18 and 17 million euros. Followed by Tuscany, Campania and Lazio with damages of around ten million euros. The only exception to this is the Autonomous Province of Bolzano where no damage to agriculture has been reported. A fact, according to the experts, linked to the “still very limited distribution of wild boar in this context”.
Damage increases
In the 2015-2021 period, the overall estimate of damage to agriculture, as the report points out, “was slightly less than 120 million euros in damages”. Overall, 36 percent of the amounts, equal to around 30 million euros, for wild boar damage “refers to national and regional protected areas, the remainder to unprotected areas”.
Necessary to take precautions
For the experts, who in the report describe a generalized increase in indicators, i.e. levies both during hunting and during control activities, it is necessary to adopt precautions. “This constant increase of the phenomenon on a national scale – they remark in the report – requires the urgent adoption of a national intervention strategy designed on the basis of the most up-to-date scientific knowledge, which integrates damage prevention and population containment interventions, and which ensures selective and planned levies coherently with the priority objective of reducing damage”. Hence the need to find a solution that passes through what is called the “management strategy”. “The key element – they remark – is the creation of a homogeneous data collection system on a national scale, which also integrates information relating to prevention interventions and road accidents, and makes it possible to monitor management progress in real time”.