There are stories from the past that remind us that we are not so far removed from the past, especially the invasions, epidemics, and methods we use. Before we go any further, this summer New York had a real super rat infestation and in South Africa they are about to bomb an island to wipe them out. These stories could be from today or they could be from the Middle Ages, for example. Spain also joined in with archers who shot wild boars to keep them out of the city.

Galicia and its raids. The news takes us to the city of Lugo in 2019. There, after several attempts with other types of traps that had no effect, archers were given the green light to shoot wild boars and remove them from the city. As we will see below, it was no small problem because accidents caused by animals increased by 62%.

The “plague” of wild boars. We are talking about a problem that has been growing on the map of Spain in recent years. The animals have increased their population significantly due to several factors, such as the lack of natural predators and the changing use of land, which has created a suitable environment for their spread. Over time, wild boars have entered rural and urban areas, damaging agricultural products, gardens and creating dangerous situations on the roads due to traffic accidents.

In Lugo, for example, farmers were particularly affected as fields of corn, potatoes and other crops were destroyed. Despite authorised hunting campaigns and measures to control their population, the number of wild boars continued to increase. So the authorities increased hunting raids, while the highly adaptable wild boars proliferated rapidly.

It has become a breeding ground for tensions among rural populations demanding more action, while conservation groups have sought more controlled methods of combating the pest.

First there were trap cages. In 2019, the Xunta Environmental Department launched a pilot operation to try to trap the animals in cages. Specialist agents prepared the device, which was placed in the city’s slums, to catch specimens that approached the city and even wandered the streets at night.

We are talking about quite large cages where the environmental factors store corn and other products so that the wild boars can eat. Once inside, the cage door closes and the animal can be moved without harming it.

Bow hunting. Since attempts to hunt the wild boar population with cages were not as successful as expected, the Xunta changed their plan of action to bow hunting. The reason? This is a method carried out at night, a few meters away from the animal, and poses no apparent risk to the population. A group of professional archers were called in for this.

Like? The modus operandi starts with archers stalking an area at night, and these archers are being watched by Ministry agents who are responsible for preventing anyone from approaching these areas.

This move was successful and other communities took notice of this technique.

The use of archers is expanding. Galicia’s problem with wild boars is not unique, but they were the pioneers of this ancient practice, which was later widely used in the Middle Ages. This year, the City Council of Malaga also agreed to allocate 15,000 euros to hire a group of archers to regulate the control of these animals in the area.

In the case of Malaga, yes, it is remembered that the chief professionals were asked to “be vigilant to avoid any kind of crisis”. A warning that seems to have been followed so far, given the lack of videos and images of their work.

Wild boar in Spain. We talked about this some time ago, and in fact this is a phenomenon that is also known in many other major Western countries, such as the United States, and even animal associations are aware of the seriousness of the problem.

With an estimated wild insect population of six million and growing, various studies have calculated that wild infestations have doubled between 1982 and 2012. Sticking to the peninsula, in addition to Galicia and Malaga, there are also large populations in Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, ​​Avilés…

Why? The proliferation of these creatures is due to several reasons, the most important of which is that it is an animal that can eat almost everything. Without a special diet, any city dump is a perfect place, a residential area where we produce and throw away large quantities of food and which represents a natural attraction. Moreover, since they are not afraid of us, the “families” have become new neighbors to be reckoned with in many societies.

And drought. Yes, to the characteristics of the wild boar and the abandoned western countryside, we must add another determining factor in our country: drought. The fact that the main basins have remained below minimum values ​​​​for all these years has driven wild animals to our cities, where they can still cool off.

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