20,000 wild boars in disaster, Tongjiang hired "foreign aid" to hunt down
The professional hunting team only killed 8 heads in two and a half days. The local plan to kill 750 heads this year may be difficult to complete.
West China Metropolis Daily-Cover News Reporter Xie Ying and Li Xinggang Zeng Ye
"The wild boars have stopped temporarily." On November 12, a villager who had been repeatedly infested by wild boars told reporters in Yuanshanzi Village, Zhicheng Town, Tongjiang County, Bazhong City.
Five days ago, a professional hunting team from Mianyang Jiangyou launched an operation there.
In two and a half days, only 8 wild boars were killed.
"It's not that we can't, but that wild boars are very aggressive, and it's not easy to kill them..." said Cheng Tao, the head of Jiangyou Hunting and Rescue Center, as the only professional team with a gun license in Sichuan Province.
According to statistics at the end of 2020, there are about 20,000 wild boars in Tongjiang.
In July this year, Tongjiang County was included in one of the four pilot counties in Sichuan Province for the prevention and control of wild boar damage.
According to the "Work Plan for Wild Boar Hazard Prevention and Control Point in Tongjiang County", 750 wild boars are planned to be killed by the end of 2021.
However, due to the lack of local professional teams, Li Bin, director of the Tongjiang County Wildlife Conservation Center, is very anxious: this goal is difficult to accomplish.
Dilemma 1: Hunting and killing difficult dogs surrounded and shot, only 8 killed in two and a half days
At 7 o'clock in the morning on November 6th, just after dawn, the 4 members of Cheng Tao's professional team, together with the staff of Tongjiang County Forestry Bureau and County Agriculture and Rural Bureau, formed a hunting team and set off to the northern mountainous area. The first hunting operation this winter.
The target of this action delineated Zhicheng Town and Lianghekou Town.
The local area is more than 1,000 meters above sea level, with dense vegetation and frequent wild boars.
Yuanshanzi Village in Zhicheng Town is the village with the highest frequency of wild boar activities.
Under the leadership of the villagers, 4 hunters armed with a shotgun and took 7 hunting dogs into the dense forest area.
Soon, with a gunshot, a wild boar surrounded by hounds was killed by the hunter.
In the next two and a half days, the hunting team overcame the mountains and killed a total of 8 wild boars.
Danger occurred during the hunting process.
Li Bin recalled that once they were watching a wild boar that was killed. Suddenly, another wild boar was chased by a hound and came from a few meters away. Several people were frightened and hurriedly climbed up a tree to avoid danger.
“Wild boars are very aggressive. If you don’t have a good hunting dog or a gun, don’t take it rashly.” Cheng Tao said, as the only professional team with a gun license in Sichuan, his team is well-equipped and the team members are well-equipped. During the war, there were more than 60 hounds imported from Liangshan Prefecture and abroad.
But even so, on November 11, in Beichuan, Mianyang, 400 kilometers away from Tongjiang County, hunters, hunting dogs and wild boars fought fiercely, and a hunting dog worth up to 60,000 yuan was unfortunately killed in action.
For this operation to hire "foreign aid", Tongjiang County was also a last resort.
Previously, the local "battle" with wild boars used primitive and extremely dangerous methods: the villagers gathered together, relied on the large number of people, and drove them away with local dogs or beating gongs and drums.
In December last year, Tongjiang organized a concentrated hunting operation. More than a dozen people brought more than 20 hunting dogs into the mountain, and only two wild boars were killed in three days.
"The dog group successfully contained one of the wild boars. When their energy was exhausted, the team members hacked and killed them with a long knife. The wild boars fought fiercely and broke the wooden knife handle and fled with the broken knife." Li Bin recalled, 7 days later, they only slashed. The corpse of this wild boar was found in the forest.
This concentrated hunting operation resulted in a total of 8 hound casualties.
Dilemma 2: There are more than 20,000 heads in the county, spoiling food and occasionally hurting people
In July this year, after Tongjiang was included in the province's pilot counties for the prevention and control of wild boar damage, the county government soon issued a work plan.
The plan pointed out that “in 2020, each township will conduct a preliminary survey of the wild boar population in the area under its jurisdiction. There are about 20,000 wild boars in the county, which are distributed in all townships, which has seriously threatened people’s lives and property safety.”
In fact, the number of wild boars in Tongjiang has reached the point where hunting is indispensable.
"In July and August, Baogu and sweet potatoes mature, wild boars often go down the mountain to eat corn and sweet potatoes, and occasionally hurt people. We are old and dare not provoke them." A villager surnamed Zhang in Ganyugou Village, Sing Town said helplessly.
In order to make up for the loss of the masses, Tongjiang County spent more than 400,000 yuan to purchase government rescue insurance for wild animals in the face of financial constraints.
"Since April this year, as many as 707 claims have been filed just for wild boar-related claims." Li Bin introduced that up to now, the county has successfully settled 206 claims, with a payment amount of more than 32,000 yuan, and there are still nearly 500 pieces are being processed, and the amount of compensation is expected to exceed 100,000 yuan.
"There are too many cases, and the insurance company is seriously understaffed. We have received many complaints from damaged farmers." Li Bin said frankly that buying insurance will not cure the symptoms. After all, wild boars will come again after they are gone. .
Li Bin introduced that as to how to solve the problem of wild boars causing damage to the interests of farmers, the state and the province have not yet issued relevant policies. Tongjiang County can only cross the river by feeling the stones, and assist the victims while setting up a wildlife prevention and control team. Damage the villagers’ fixed evidence, carry out wild boar population surveys and preach knowledge on prevention and control, etc.
Dilemma 3: The lack of professional teams due to many constraints, the task is difficult to complete this year
The prevention and control work plan of Tongjiang County pointed out that the wild boar population should be regulated according to the standard of not more than 2 animals per square kilometer.
"Restricted by policies, laws and regulations, the hunting of wild boars must be organized by the government, and it is illegal for villagers and non-governmental organizations to kill. However, for government organizations to kill, they cannot use power grids, animal traps and other equipment that may harm other wild animals, nor can they set traps. Or use drugs." Xu Yonggang, a staff member of the Tongjiang County Wildlife Conservation Center, said that due to these conditions, the challenges they face are not small.
At present, the Tongjiang Forestry Department has declared a total of 6 hunting teams, and gives priority to the strongest team among them.
"I hope I can apply for guns for them. Without a gun, it would be even harder to kill." Li Bin said.
In order to complete the task of killing 750 wild boars this year, Tongjiang County hired a professional team from Mianyang Jiangyou.
"Their hounds are very strong and can directly kill wild boars. The hunters are also good at killing them with one shot." Li Bin is satisfied with the equipment of this professional team, but unfortunately, the professional team worked in Tongjiang for two. We evacuated after a day and a half.
Based on the number of wild boars that were eventually killed, Tongjiang County paid the other party a contract fee of 2,000 yuan per head.
"Applying for a gun license is very complicated and a long process." Li Bin said, the difficulty is more than that. "Calculated on the basis of 750 this year, if all external professionals are hired, the cost is also a large expenditure. This year's goal It seems difficult to complete."
The hunter said:
This is the best time to hunt
In recent years, with the continuous improvement of the ecological environment, the wild boar population has gradually expanded and has become a trend of flooding, endangering the safety of people's lives and property.
Beichuan, Qingchuan, Chaotian, and Tongjiang are listed as pilot counties for wild boar prevention and control in the province. Recently, hunting operations have been launched in various places.
The cover news recently reported that Tongjiang County hired "foreign aid" to hunt wild boars. The two topics of "how to improve hunting efficiency" and "how to deal with wild boar" have become the focus of discussion among netizens.
Don't act rashly without a gun
The Mianyang Jiangyou Hunting and Rescue Center is currently the only professional team with a gun license in Sichuan Province.
Recently, the team has been invited to Tongjiang and Beichuan to carry out hunting operations.
Cheng Tao, who is over fifty years old, is the head of the center. He has dealt with wild boars for more than 30 years and is a senior hunter.
Cheng Tao repeatedly warned in an interview with reporters: Don't act rashly without a shotgun.
He said that in some places, the primitive tactics of using a long knife to encircle and chop are acceptable to deal with smaller wild boars, but it is extremely dangerous if they encounter larger wild boars.
Even if you have a gun, you must choose a good angle when shooting. It is best to kill with one shot, because after a wild boar is injured, it will often turn back on the spot.
The eight wild boars hunted in Tongjiang County this time were all killed in one shot.
The hound is the most important partner
Tracking and rounding up wild boars are inseparable from excellent hunting dogs.
"Ordinary hunting dogs, chasing rabbits and muntjac are acceptable. Fighting wild boars is useless. If you don't get it right, you will be bitten to death by wild boars." Cheng Tao's team has more than 60 hunting dogs, most of them are from Liangshan. It was introduced by the state, and part of it was also imported from abroad.
These hunting dogs, one in a hundred, or even one in a thousand, are naturally expensive, ranging from four to fifty thousand yuan to more than one hundred thousand yuan each.
Even so, on the morning of November 11, when Cheng Tao's team was hunting in Beichuan, Mianyang, a hunting dog worth 60,000 yuan was unfortunately killed in battle.
This is the fourth hound killed by the team this year.
Cheng Tao believes that now is the best time to hunt wild boars.
In winter, the leaves of the trees fall off and the forest has a good view. Once the wild boar shows up, it is difficult to escape.
Forestry department: eating wild animals is strictly prohibited
For wild boars that were killed, Tongjiang County used quicklime to disinfect them and dug deep pits to bury them on the spot.
For this reason, some netizens expressed regret: “What a delicious wild boar!” “It would be a shame if all 750 heads are buried.” Some netizens joked: “It’s just a violent thing!”
In this regard, Li Bin, director of the Tongjiang County Wildlife Protection Center, said that eating wild animals is strictly prohibited, and the law has clear regulations.
For wild boars that have been killed, they must be disposed of in accordance with standard procedures.
In the case of relatively large catches, it can be processed into animal feed after strict inspection and quarantine.
West China Metropolis Daily-Cover News Reporter Xie Ying and Li Xinggang Zeng Ye