The authorities in Kraków, Poland’s second-largest city, have appealed to residents to stop feeding wild boars as growing numbers of the animals roam the streets.
City hall is also planning to better take wildlife populations into account in urban planning by, for example, creating migration corridors, as well as to cooperate with hunting clubs by issuing decisions on the culling of animals in emergency situations.
#Krakow #apel #dziki
❗🐗 Kraków apeluje: Bardzo ważne jest, aby nie dokarmiać dzików! pic.twitter.com/DRUrJK4hwB— Kraków (@krakow_pl) November 10, 2023
Like many other towns and cities in Poland, Kraków has recently seen soaring numbers of boars in urban areas. The city council estimates there to now be between 1,000 and 1,500 of the animals in Krakow, while in normal conditions there should only be around 150.
The authorities have warned residents that, while the wild boars they meet on the streets may seem more domesticated than their forest counterparts, they are still wild animals and can carry viruses that cause African swine fever (ASF).
Because of the spread of this disease, which has affected many European countries in recent years, and laws introduced to prevent it, the city authorities cannot relocate captured boars, meaning they usually have to be put down.
Around 400 wild boars have been captured in Kraków this year, reports local newspaper Gazeta Krakowska.
“In many cases in Kraków, it can be said that we already have urban wild boars, which were born in the city,” said deputy mayor Jerzy Muzyk. “Without education, this problem with the increased wild boar population is difficult to solve.”
As part of the city’s educational activities, posters will be displayed and leaflets distributed, workshops will be held in preschools and senior centres, and announcements will be broadcast on public transport.
The growing wild boar population in urban spaces is a problem that has befallen many Polish cities. Poland’s capital, Warsaw also called on its residents to stop feeding the animals this year. However, with the problem persisting, Warsaw’s mayor authorised limited the culling of wild boars.
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
In the coastal city of Gdynia, where wild boars are also frequently seen on the city streets, the sightings inspired an artistic project this summer.
Activists from the urban planning NGO Traffic Design, in cooperation with the municipal museum, organised a campaign in which dozens of plastic orange wild boar figurines appeared on the city streets.
The project aimed to encourage a debate about humans’ appropriation of animals’ natural habitats.
View this post on Instagram
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: dtf/YouTube (screenshot)
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
