Destroying crops, walking into the city and walking wild boars "disaster"
The National Forestry and Grass Administration has carried out comprehensive pilot work for prevention and control of wild boar hazards in Jiangxi and other 14 provinces; while hunting is carried out in many places, scientific and technological means are tried to prevent and control.
The "disaster" of wild boar has once again aroused concern.
Recently, some media reported that there are more than 20,000 wild boars in Tongjiang County, Sichuan Province. The local pilot program for wild boar prevention and control plans to hunt 750 wild boars this year, but the hunting started difficult.
Planting in spring, destroying seedlings in summer, gnawing fruits in autumn... In many provinces in my country, wild boars have become the wild animals with the widest range of damage and the most serious losses.
At the same time, citizens in Nanjing, Wuhan and other cities frequently witnessed wild boars.
What should we do about the wild boar population that has soared?
Few natural enemies, good protection work, and the number of wild boars has surged
"Wild boars are very harmful to farmland, especially corn fields." Speaking of these uninvited guests, Liu Bingwan, an associate professor at the College of Wildlife and Nature Reserve of Northeast Forestry University, said that they not only eat crops, but also often trample on farmland and arched land.
In recent years, news that wild boars have caused farmers to lose money has become a common news report.
Why does the wild boar population grow so fast?
The State Forestry and Grassland Administration said in response to a message from a netizen in Dongxi Town, Qijiang District, Chongqing. Continuous improvement, the increasing population of wild animals such as wild boar, and the expansion of foraging activities have led to more frequent harmful events.
"Wild boars are highly reproductive and have a high survival rate. At the same time, the four seasons in the south are warmer, there is plenty of food, and the density of wild boars is higher."
Li Chunwang, an associate researcher at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointed out that fewer natural enemies are also one of the reasons for the high survival rate and rapid growth of small wild boars.
The natural enemies of wild boars are tigers, leopards and other large carnivores. They require more space for movement and slower population recovery.
Biological prevention and control by restoring the number of natural enemies is not realistic in the short term.
Since the beginning of this year, the National Forestry and Grass Administration has carried out thorough investigations on the harm caused by wild boars and other wild animals nationwide, and has carried out comprehensive pilot work on the prevention and control of wild boar hazards in 14 provinces including Jiangxi.
The reporter combed and found that many pilot sites have designated or extended the wild boar hunting period.
The Shaanxi Forestry Bureau issued a notice in July to shorten the wild boar hunting period from the original 8 months to 2 months, and adjust it from March 1 to October 31 to March 1 to April 30 each year.
Earlier, the staff of the Shaanxi Provincial Nature Reserve and Wildlife Management Station told reporters that wild boars cause damage mainly in July and August, when the crops of the people are ripe, and there is a risk that wild boars will hurt people when they go down the mountain.
"The breeding period of wild boar is from March to May, and the newly adjusted hunting period will not completely stagger its breeding period."
The hunting period of controlled wild boar hunting in Jinzhai County of Anhui Province is from October 1st to January 31st of the following year.
According to reports, the hunting team of Jinzhai County was established in September this year. The 20 people are local farmers, mostly in their 40s or 50s.
The "Technical Points for Prevention and Control of Wild Boar Hazards" issued by the National Forestry and Grass Administration clarifies the population control density control standard. It is recommended that the population density in the southern hilly area should be controlled at 2 per square kilometer; in the north, it should be controlled at 1 per square kilometer. .
The specific hunting volume should be calculated on the basis of the actual density of wild boar populations.
Li Chunwang believes that it is possible to dynamically grasp the changes in the number of wild boar populations and scientifically determine the number of hunting through the method of sampling lines and infrared cameras.
Liu Bingwan also said that the number of wild boars should be ascertained across the country as soon as possible.
Hunting costs are high, and there are few professional hunters, hunting faces difficulties
Although the hunting period is delineated, problems such as high cost and fewer professional hunters are restricting the effectiveness of hunting.
The staff of the Shaanxi Provincial Nature Reserve and Wildlife Management Station told reporters in July that the use of guns is restricted and wild boar hunting still has great limitations.
Because wild boars are more fierce, villagers are dangerous to use shovels and other tools, but the use of guns requires a lot of procedures and requires a permit.
According to reports, professional hunting in Tongjiang County, Sichuan Province had a difficult start.
There are more than 20,000 wild boars in the county, and 750 wild boars are planned to be hunted in 2021.
After inviting the only professional team with a gun license in Sichuan, 8 wild boars were hunted in two and a half days.
Two hunting dogs were sacrificed when hunting wild boars, one of which cost more than 30,000 yuan.
"As our country's awareness of protecting animals increases, hunters are declining, but hunting just requires technology." Liu Bingwan said.
Hu Huijian, a researcher at the Institute of Zoology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, believes that the efficiency of hunting wild boars with ropes and fences is not high, and the shooting efficiency is high, but the wild boars after hunting are difficult to use economically, which affects the enthusiasm of hunters.
In order to increase the enthusiasm of hunters, some places are also exploring hunting compensation and labor subsidy mechanisms.
The "Implementation Plan for the Controlled Hunting of Wild Boars in Jinzhai County" shows that in accordance with the requirements of fasting wild animals, wild boars hunted by hunting teams are purchased by the local government at a standard of 10 yuan/jin as a labor subsidy to pay hunters, and then concentrated Carry out harmless treatment.
Hu Huijian also pointed out that long-term government subsidies are unsustainable. If they cannot be used economically, subsidies will become a long-term economic burden for the local government.
"This is a question worth thinking about."
Prevent and control wild boar hazards with scientific and technological means
While hunting, localities are also trying to apply scientific and technological means to wild boar prevention and control work.
Hu Huijian introduced that the Institute of Zoology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences is developing an intelligent early warning system for wild boar hazard prevention and control. It uses infrared cameras and cameras to shoot in real time. Once the artificial intelligence recognizes the wild boar, the system can issue early warnings to forestry authorities and villages close to the wild boar.
"At present, we have completed the intelligent identification of wild boars and are working on an APP to issue notifications."
At the same time, the research institute is also developing another device to drive wild boars. Once a wild boar is found, the device closest to the wild boar can be activated in time.
Wild boars have high intelligence, and the scene where their companions are shot and killed is shocking and deterring.
The equipment simulates the shooting process of a wild boar, the dummy fires a shot, and the fake wild boar makes a scream after being hit.
"Fujian and other places found that if wild boars were hunted in a certain place, other wild boars would not come for two or three months after they heard gunshots. So this batch of equipment played a role in driving wild boars." Hu Huijian said that the patent for this equipment has been passed. , Is currently in contact with production, the coverage radius of the equipment can reach 1 km.
In terms of barrier facilities, the "Technical Points for Prevention and Control of Wild Boar Hazards" issued by the National Forestry and Grass Administration recommends setting up pulse electronic fences and warning signs in areas where wild boars frequently cause harm, large losses, and pose a serious threat to personal safety. Remind personnel to keep their distance to avoid electric shock.
Liu Bingwan said that his students discovered this situation during field research: wild boars were electrocuted when they jumped into the electronic fence. They were afraid of being shocked again and did not dare to jump out easily. Instead, they would continue to cause damage in the fenced farmland.
He believes that the actual effects of electronic fences can be monitored.
Wild boars enter the city, citizens should not turn their heads and run away when encountering wild boars
It is not enough to eat crops in the farmland. In recent years, wild boars have swaggered into the cities.
Just a few days ago, a wild boar ran into a residential building on Beijing East Road, Nanjing, was subdued by the police and sent it to the Hongshan Forest Zoo.
The reporter combed and found that not only Nanjing, but Wuhan is also a city where wild boars are common in recent years.
In April this year, a wild boar ran wildly on the campus of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, followed by a few small wild boar cubs...
Why do wild boars appear more and more in cities?
Li Chunwang said that in the past, wild boars thought of gunshots and being hunted when they saw people.
In recent years, my country’s wildlife protection has been done very well, and hunting has become less and less.
The wild boar is no longer afraid of people, and is getting closer and closer to people.
How to prevent wild boar from entering the human living space while maintaining a good ecological environment?
Liu Bingwan believes that wild animals sometimes walk into cities along trash cans and food residues, and they cannot easily obtain food waste. Therefore, try to set the food waste bins as airtight.
Many experts pointed out that wild boars usually do not actively attack people unless they are too close to make them feel threatened.
Liu Bingwan emphasized that if everyone encounters wild boars in the city, they must not turn their heads and run away because they may be easily attacked by wild animals if they are timid.
He suggested staring at the wild boar with his eyes, facing the wild boar calmly and retreating slowly.
"In addition, you must not feed wild animals. This is not a good act. On the contrary, it will cause wild animals to lose their predatory capacity, and they will get closer and closer to humans, causing a series of problems such as the spread of diseases."
In Liu Bingwan's view, the "disaster" of wild boars is an urgent matter to be solved.
He said frankly that my country’s animal protection work has achieved very good results, but it blindly emphasizes protection and is not prepared for the rapid increase in numbers caused by protection. These studies are imminent.
Beijing News reporter Zhang Lu