A new high-tech pen, which is intended to provide a humane solution to the increasing problem of wild boars venturing into urban areas, has succeeded in catching a herd of 20 of the animals on its very first night.
Following several months of testing on the campus of Kraków’s Jagiellonian University, the pen was moved to the Podwawelskie estate, which lies across the Vistula river from Wawel Castle, close to the city centre.
“Unexpectedly, on the very same night we managed to catch a whole group of boars (three sows and 17 little ones),” reported the Rehabilitation Centre for Wild Animals, based in the nearby village of Tomaszowice, in a Facebook post.
“The animals were safely packed onto a trailer (the entire process took around 20 minutes) and relocated in a safe place for them,” the centre added. It hopes that the city will soon begin using more of the pens in order to effectively remove the potential danger for residents and the boars themselves.
The centre says that two years ago it first suggested finding a more humane alternative to dealing with boars than calling in hunters, but its proposals fell on deaf ears. Undeterred, together with the city authorities and police they developed the idea of an automated catching pen.
The boars are lured into the metal pen by corn scattered inside. Motion sensors send an alert to the operator by text message, who can then check live video to see what is happening.
If it is boars that are inside – and not other animals like dogs running off their leash – the pen can then be closed remotely. Staff from the rehabilitation centre then arrive to load the animals onto a special trailer, ready for relocation.
“We had one objective – to reduce the stress and simplify the process of loading the animals,” the centre explained. “Although these animals are usually timid and would not attack people of their own accord, in certain situations they can constitute a threat, especially when attacked by a dog off its leash or if they are injured.”
There have been increasing reports of sounders of wild boars straying from the forests into urban areas in Kraków in recent years. In April, staff of an animal charity rescued a dog that had been attacked by a boar sow, while around the same time a video showed a boar chasing the owner of another dog.
The Kraków authorities are “optimistic” about building further catching pens, says the rehabilitation centre, noting that it would be useful for the city to have four or five more. But they say that the most important factor in controlling the number of wild animals is people’s behaviour.
“We must remember that it is we residents who contribute to the radical growth in their population,” the rehabilitation centre warns. “Leaving remains of food or feeding them directly causes them to grow accustomed to places where they can be a danger.”
Other Polish cities have also struggled to deal with an increasing wild boar population. In Poznań, the local authorities as well as community groups have tried a number of methods. Although more than 550 boars are removed every year, the local urban population remains around 200-250.
A policeman was required to intervene after a wild boar entered a backyard where children were playing and ate their pierogi.
The police reassure that the offender is well known to them and is not aggressive, having become used to being fed by humans https://t.co/yShFzj84fV
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 5, 2020
Main image credit: Facebook/Ośrodek Rehabilitacji Dzikich Zwierząt w Tomaszowicach (screenshot)
Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.
