"War" between man and wild boar
"China News Weekly" reporter/Xu Dawei
Issued at 2021.12.6, Issue 1023 of "China News Weekly"
Located in Shexian County, Anhui Province, in the mountainous area of southern Anhui, it has undulating hills and crisscrossing valleys.
As an important ecological barrier at the source of the Xin'an River, Shexian County has a forest coverage rate of 78%, making it a paradise for wild boars.
In Xitou Town, Huangtian Township, Shexian County and other places, wild boars are flooding.
"The increase in the number of wild boars in the past two years can be said to be rapid progress." Cheng Guoan, a native of the Shexian hunting team, told China News Weekly that the sweet potatoes, corn and other crops that farmers had worked hard for a year were gnawed by wild boars. After eating, the pellets were not harvested. “Wild boars are overwhelming, and the people cannot grow their crops. There are wild boars around the house.” The helpless villagers could only post complaints on the Internet and seek help from the local government.
Since the beginning of this year, he has frequently received calls from villagers for help. When he sees the villagers who have suffered from the "pig disaster", Cheng Guoan feels distressed and helpless.
"Spring arches, summer destroys seedlings, and autumn gnaws fruits." Wild boars have become the wild animal with the widest range of damage and the most serious losses in China.
A few days ago, the National Forestry and Grass Administration launched a comprehensive pilot project for the prevention and control of wild boar hazards in Jiangxi and other 14 provinces. Many pilot sites have designated or extended the wild boar hunting period and sent hunting teams to hunt. However, the hunting teams are facing various practical difficulties. .
The wild boar, which is a protected animal of the "three possessions" (referring to terrestrial wild animals protected by the state or of important economic and scientific value), is protected by law. "Pigs can grab food, but people cannot hurt them."
This fierce conflict between people and pigs caused by the descent of wild boars is becoming a nationwide "war".
Human-Pig Conflict
Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County, located in northwestern Sichuan, is also plagued by wild boars.
"The crops of the common people have suffered a large area." The relevant person in charge of the Wildlife Protection Station of the Beichuan County Forestry Bureau told China News Weekly that food crops and medicinal materials were mainly eaten by wild boars.
The local mountains are high with dense forests, and the climate is pleasant. It is suitable for planting Chinese medicinal materials such as Coptis chinensis and other high-value forests and grasses.
Rhizoma Coptidis needs to be planted under the forest, and it can be grown once every five years, which can bring villagers an income of 30,000 yuan per mu.
Wild boars often enter the Coptis chinensis field for food in winter and spring, trampling or arching Coptis chinensis seedlings, which is extremely harmful to the cultivation of Coptis chinensis.
The wild boar is a plant-based omnivorous animal that feeds on young leaves, nuts, berries, grass and roots, and uses a hard nose to dig roots and bulbs from the ground.
But they also eat almost anything that fits into the mouth, such as bird eggs, mice, lizards, worms, carrion, and even eat hares, deer cubs, and snakes to supplement their diet.
Zhang Minghai, a member of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration's comprehensive pilot expert group for prevention and control of wild boar hazards, told China News Weekly that wild boars have a wide range of food habits and are not picky, which determines the wild boar's super environmental adaptability.
"Whether it is the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau or the tropical rain forest, wild boars are distributed from the cold temperate forests in the northeast to the mountainous hills in the south."
Wild boars are extremely active in the agricultural and forestry interlaced areas. The feeding and trampling of crops by wild boars is the main reason for the conflict between humans and wild boars.
A wild boar hazard investigation report in the Hunchun area of Jilin showed that the hazards of wild boar mostly occurred between early summer and late autumn.
Summer is the season for corn ears and maturity. The harm of wild boars to corn starts from the corn filling period. At this time, because the corn is not mature and the groats are not full, the wild boars cannot eat complete corn, so the number of corn plants eaten increases. , The harm is very serious.
After the autumn corn matures, the wild boar is more harmful.
What makes farmers even more disgusted is the mud bathing behavior of wild boars.
Studies have shown that wild boars rarely feed on crops when there is sufficient food in the wild, but they often roll in farmland, so crops are destroyed wherever the wild boar goes.
As wild boars go downhill and infest more and more frequently, incidents of wild boar wounding occur frequently.
In March of this year, Ma Jiuyu, a 66-year-old man from Baini Township, Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County, was attacked by wild boars while working in his woodland.
After being bitten by a wild boar, the old man was bloody and injured in multiple parts of his body.
In October of this year, Li Fangming, a resident of the Langxiang Forestry Bureau in Yichun City, and his wife were attacked by wild boars when they were picking up soybeans in their homes and were seriously injured.
A search of related reports reveals that several serious wild boar injuries have occurred across the country this year.
In this regard, Zhang Minghai explained that wild boars are multi-male and multi-female breeding. In non-breeding seasons, boars are often alone.
The boar has sharp fangs, which are extremely harmful.
"Wild boars generally do not actively attack people, but wild boars are sensitive and'unconfident' animals." Zhang Minghai said that wild boars often use the size of their faces to determine the degree of danger to each other. The area of humans who walk upright is the largest. It is considered to be the most dangerous, which also causes wild boars to attack people out of panic.
In Cheng Guoan's view, the reason for the sharp increase in the number of wild boars in the local area in the past two years is the stagnant hunting and returning farmland to forests.
A new round of conversion of farmland to forests in Shexian County launched at the end of 2016, and plans to complete more than 5,500 mu of farmland to forests in 18 towns and townships.
The restoration of forest vegetation, coupled with the absence of natural enemies, and the strong reproductive capacity of wild boars have resulted in a geometric increase in the population.
"It turns out that wild boars come into estrus in the winter solstice. In the coming year, the young man will give birth to piglets. Now they will give birth twice a year." Cheng Guoan said.
"This is an indisputable fact." Zhang Minghai said that although the results of the second national survey of terrestrial wildlife resources have not yet been announced, the number of wild boar populations in most areas of the country is higher than that of the first national terrestrial wildlife survey in 1995-2000. The survey of wildlife resources has increased significantly.
In Zhang Minghai's view, the rapid growth of wild boar population has its biological and ecological characteristics.
Wild boars belong to the order Artiodactyla, Suidae, and Porcine. There is only 1 genus and 1 species in China, but they are divided into 7 subspecies.
"The subpopulations are not reproductively isolated from each other." Zhang Minghai introduced that wild boars have 6 to 8 litters each time, and up to 13 in a long time.
Corresponding to the high reproductive rate of wild boars, the populations of natural enemies of wild boars such as wolves, tigers and leopards are decreasing.
Lack of wild boars suppressed by natural enemies, so they began to "crowd endlessly".
"But we can't conclude that the wild boar population is out of control."
Faced with the rebound of wild boar populations and even the flooding phenomenon in some areas, there are voices calling for the animal protection list to be adjusted and wild boars removed.
"I personally also agree that wild boars should be temporarily transferred from the Sanyou list." Zhang Minghai believes that the list of protected species should be adjusted and revised every few years as the population changes.
However, it is not easy to adjust the protected list. Since the announcement of the Sanyou List of Protected Animals, no adjustment has been made, and the adjustment will inevitably be controversial.
Wild boars can regulate plant communities in forests and meadows, and are the main food for upper-level animals in the food chain. The genetic genes of wild boars are also a gene pool for domestic pig improvement.
"Adjusting the list requires considerable theoretical basis, and the adjustment procedure also requires a very complicated process." Zhang Minghai explained.
"It is not advisable to remove wild boar from the catalog easily." Zhou Ke, a professor of Law School of Renmin University of China who participated in the previous revision of the Wildlife Protection Law and executive director of the China Environmental Resources Law Research Association, told China News Weekly that the wild boar was removed from the catalog. , The intensity of protection will be greatly reduced, which will create new problems.
Zhou Ke believes that although the wild animals removed from the "Three Haves" animal list are not allowed to be hunted by extinction methods, the policy is too wide open, and it is not ruled out that hunting will bring serious consequences.
Hunting dilemma
This year, many farmlands in Beichuan County were damaged by wild boars.
Beichuan County decided to hunt the harmful wild boars. However, there was no professional hunting team in the area, so a hunting team in Jiangyou City had to be invited for emergency treatment.
Jiangyou Wanbao Wildlife Professional Hunting and Rescue Center is the only complete hunting team in Sichuan.
According to a survey team composed of several wildlife protection experts, the population of wild boars in Sichuan is about 821,000, mainly distributed in the mountains and valleys of the Western Sichuan Plateau and the mountains around the basin. Among them, wild boars in more than ten cities, including Ganzi, Aba, and Ya'an. The population density is high.
In Beichuan and Litang this year, wild boar injuries occurred one after another.
Wild boars are raging, and this hunting team has become a "fire brigade" for invitations from all over the world.
But on November 11, in a wild boar hunting operation in Beichuan County, the hunting team lost a hunting dog that was just imported from abroad and worth up to 60,000 yuan. This made Cheng Tao, the head of the hunting team, very distressed. .
"Without a good hunting dog, you can't hunt at all." Cheng Tao told China News Weekly that in the hunting operation some time ago, several hunting dogs were sacrificed and suffered heavy losses.
Cheng Tao’s hunting team has advanced equipment such as off-road vehicles, shotguns, and communication positioning facilities, but the most important equipment is the hunting dog.
"The hunting of wild boars in the mountains does not matter no matter how many people go there, they can only rely on hunting dogs." According to several local hunting team leaders, the average price of excellent hunting dogs is around 30,000 yuan, while hunting dogs imported from abroad can be used. Expensive to more than 100,000 yuan.
Wild boars are highly vigilant and good at running and jumping, making it difficult to hunt in the wild.
Pan Ming, the captain of the hunting team in Wuning County, Jiangxi Province, is an experienced wild boar hunter. He told China News Weekly that there are two ways to find wild boars in the wild. In the mountains and forests behind, follow the footprints of wild boars in the mud.
"We are all dependent on hounds at the moment." Pan Ming said that hunting wild boars is an extremely dangerous operation. During the hunting process, the hounds who found wild boars will drive the wild boars out of their hiding places and surround them. Waiting for the hunter to come forward and kill the wild boar with a gun.
The desperate wild boar is very aggressive, and it is very easy to cause the death of the hunting dog in this process.
"Once the hunting dog dies, the cost of hunting has to be calculated separately."
The high risk brings about the high cost of hunting, which discourages some plans to invite hunting teams from other places to the local wild boar hunting areas.
The relevant person in charge of the Wildlife Protection Station of the Beichuan County Forestry Bureau revealed that he had negotiated with the Jiangyou Hunting Team on related expenses many times, but the specific price has not yet fallen on paper.
A member of the forestry department at the grass-roots level said frankly that including the costs of hunting dogs, food and lodging, ammunition, and harmless disposal of wild boar corpses, the price of a wild boar is about 4,000 yuan. It's too expensive for the "shy" forestry department.
But the hunting team also does not buy into such a cost.
In Pan Ming’s view, hunting wild boars is for the public welfare purpose of protecting farmers. “As long as you don’t lose a lot of money, it’s acceptable.” However, there is no local subsidy to make up for the cost. thing.
In She County, Anhui Province, the government rewards wild boar hunting to a certain extent, and provides labor compensation ranging from 100 to 1500 yuan per head according to the weight of wild boar hunting.
However, in Cheng Guoan's view, the subsidies are so small, running around the mountains and forests every day, and having to bear the expenses of raising dogs, is fundamentally at a loss, and many team members are therefore negligent in hunting.
In September of this year, Beichuan County established its own hunting team. However, because the guns were not approved, the hunting team was unable to carry out its work independently. It could only temporarily rely on the Jiangyou Wanbao Hunting and Rescue Center for personnel training.
"The main problem is the policy. There is no clear policy for civilian guns, so it can't be approved." The relevant person in charge of the Beichuan County Wildlife Protection Station explained.
At present, the use of guns to hunt wild boars is the only permitted hunting method, and hunting methods such as setting traps, using poisons, and using electricity have been banned because they may accidentally injure other wild animals.
Cheng Guoan said that hunting teams must be approved to protect farmers. “A hunting license must be issued by the forestry department, while a gun license needs to be issued by the public security department.” According to the relevant provisions of China’s "Gun Management Law," the hunting team is currently equipped with guns. The main body lacks a legal basis, and hunting teams in many places have been in a "gun-free" state for a long time and need to be further regulated.
Zhang Minghai believes that dispatching a hunting team is a temporary way of embracing the Buddha's feet, and it is difficult to cure the root cause.
"The number of hunting is too high, which affects the reproduction of wild boar populations; the number of hunting is too low, and the harm has not been clearly eliminated." Although facing various problems to be solved, many provinces such as Anhui and Sichuan have introduced relevant plans for wild boar prevention and control. , And decided to hunt wild boars.
Recently, Huangshan City issued the "Work Plan for Strengthening the Prevention and Control of Wild Boar Hazards", requiring Shexian County to organize hunting teams during the hunting period from October 1 to January 31 of the following year to hunt wild boars and control the number of wild boar populations.
Cheng Guoan’s hunting team has 52 members, and each of them received the task of hunting 5 wild boars this year.
But he believes that this task is difficult to complete.
For the forestry sector, determining the number of hunts is a difficult problem.
"How much is hunted? What are the indicators?" There are currently three ways to regulate the number of wild boar populations. One is to determine the amount of hunting based on the annual growth and decline of the wild boar population; the other is to determine the amount of hunting based on the annual reproduction rate before the wild boar breeds. Intervention; the third is to control the wild boar population below the maximum capacity according to the habitat capacity of the population.
Either way, the prerequisite for scientifically formulating hunting quotas is to have an accurate grasp of the local wild boar population.
For the wildlife protection departments in many places, this is a "confused account."
"Only by conducting an overall investigation and knowing the size of the wild boar population can the corresponding regulation and control quantity be issued." The person in charge of the Wildlife Protection Station of the Beichuan County Forestry Bureau told reporters that because the overall investigation has not been conducted, they do not know the specific number of the local wild boar population.
Zhang Minghai told reporters that long-term dynamic detection of wild boar populations is very difficult. “This is closely related to the age structure of the population, the migration rate, the migration rate, and the population interaction. There are too many variables.” The lack of long-term monitoring mechanism. , Making it difficult for relevant departments to scientifically deploy wild boar monitoring routes, monitoring points, and establish networks.
"It is difficult to predict animals that are prone to flooding, and there is no early warning system."
How to resolve
The proliferation of wild boars has turned the conflict between humans and wild boars into a protracted "war".
In the Bazhong area of Sichuan, wild boars became a disaster.
Granny Wu, 67, is a villager in Fengtoushan Village, Bazhou District, Bazhong City, Sichuan Province. She stays at her home alone and lives only by growing crops.
Since 2014, in order to drive wild boars and protect their crops, the elderly have been living in sheds on the mountains and purchased equipment for electric wild boars.
After electrocuting three wild boars and selling them, Granny Wu committed illegal hunting and was sentenced to three months of detention and six months of probation.
"Ordinary people cannot hunt wild boars. Only hunting teams commissioned by the government can do it." The relevant person in charge of the Wildlife Protection Station of the Beichuan County Forestry Bureau explained that in the face of wild boars nuisance to the farmland, the villagers had no choice but to set off firecrackers and beat them. Using washbasins, making scarecrows, and putting on tweeters to drive wild boars, but with little effect.
The wise wild boar fought a guerrilla war with people.
"Come and rush, come and rush, but people can't take care of the crops 24 hours a day."
However, in some places, conflicts between villagers and wild boars are still intensifying in order to grab food from the pigs' mouths.
Because of the loss of more than 30 acres of wheat and 70 acres of corn, a couple in Xichuan County, Henan Province decided to go to war with wild boars.
From May to July this year, the couple used insulated wooden sticks and electric wire mesh to fence the ground on a mountainous area in Qingquan Village, Cangfang Town, Xichuan County, and used batteries, inverters, and alarms. Wait for equipment to hunt wild boars, and capture more than 8 wild boars.
The case-handling agency believes that the whole territory of Xichuan County is a hunting sanctuary throughout the year, and the power grid is forbidden for hunting equipment. At present, both the couple have been sentenced.
There is no lack of public opinion who complains about it, and many netizens have "accused" the proliferation of wild boars in the comment area.
"There are acts prohibited by the law and cannot be arbitrarily broken." Zhou Ke, a professor at the School of Law of Renmin University of China, believes that this is not excessive punishment. "Sex" is legally untenable.
Zhou Ke also pointed out that the court should consider the extent of the damage to the villagers’ crops by the wild boar, the duration of the damage, and whether the government has not acted or not.
Several interviewed experts told China News Weekly that at present, in the face of wild boars damaging crops, the more important way to resolve contradictions is to provide compensation through the government.
In Anhui Province, where wild boar disasters are frequent, there is currently no special subsidy for losses caused by wild boars and other wild animals. Compensation can only be applied for according to the "Anhui Province Wild Terrestrial Wild Animals Causing Life Injury and Property Loss Compensation Measures", but there are some problems in the implementation process. Issues such as investigation, obtaining evidence, difficulty in determining damage, and low compensation.
A person from the grass-roots forestry department of Anhui Province who did not want to be named told China News Weekly that the government needs to arrange special funds from the county finance for compensation. The county finances are stretched, and it is not easy to approve and allocate compensation funds.
Yunnan Province has introduced commercial insurance in the case of Asian elephant incidents.
According to regulations, all cases of Asian elephant accidents that occurred within Xishuangbanna Prefecture will be compensated by the insurance company in accordance with the standards stipulated in the insurance agreement, as long as the conditions stipulated in the insurance agreement are met.
Through direct compensation, the intensity of conflicts between humans and elephants is reduced.
Similar ideas are being used for reference.
A few days ago, Ninghai County, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province officially launched wildlife accident insurance and included it in Ninghai County’s policy agricultural insurance.
This year, Beichuan County financed 150,000 yuan to purchase public liability insurance for wild animals.
As of the end of October, insurance companies had settled 223 claims, with a compensation amount of more than 200,000 yuan.
However, because of the wild boar proliferation, wild boar ruining farmland incidents frequently occur, which greatly increases the insurance company's compensation risk, and there is an embarrassing situation where the government "pays" to insure the crops, but the insurance company is unwilling to insure.
Zhang Minghai believes that the prevention and control of wild boar disasters must return to the origin of the problem.
"The most effective means of regulation is the natural enemies of wild boars. It needs to consciously restore the ecology and give the same competing species of wild boar space to survive."
China News Weekly, Issue 45, 2021
Statement: The publication of the "China News Weekly" manuscript is authorized in writing