"In Umbria no cases of African swine fever (Psa). The fight against the spread of wild boars, vectors of the disease, according to the regional planning, but the hunt on the hunt cannot be extended, since it is not allowed by the legislation and could, on the contrary, increase the risks of spreading the PSA ". This is what the Regional Councilor for Agricultural Policies and Hunting affirms, Roberto Morroni. “With regard to the problem of African swine fever and the strategies to be put in place to deal with it - he says - the management of wild boar is one of the crucial issues to be addressed.
Given that the species is the vehicle of the virus among wildlife, the decrease in population density is undoubtedly one of the objectives to be pursued, as already established by the Psa 2021 surveillance and prevention plan in Italy sent by the Ministry of Health to the Regions ". “Hunting, in fact, is the most direct and effective tool - continues Morroni - for reduce the spread of wild boars in the area, but it must be combined with the criteria for managing and controlling the spread of the disease. In the ordinances issued for the areas where the presence of the Psa has been detected and in the Regional Plans - he highlights - all the activities that involve the attendance of the infected areas and which risk causing stimuli for the mobility of the wild boar species. With this in mind, hunting has also been suspended in the areas where the virus is present, pending specific and targeted killing plans ".
“Consequently, as long as on our territory the presence of the PSA will not be detected - underlines the commissioner again - all the ordinary control and containment activities will continue which, as repeatedly stated, should not be considered hunting activities and, as such, they do not fall within the scope of the prescriptions set out in the hunting calendar. The hunting of the wild boar will also continue through the selection hunt, as foreseen by the hunting calendar ". "The hunt for driven wild boar cannot be extended - adds Morroni - because the legislation in force does not allow it, which prescribes the limitation of the harvesting period of the wild boar species to a time span of up to three months, identified in the regional hunting calendar 2021-2022 in the period 3 October - 2 January, as regularly carried out.
Furthermore, precautionary reasons push to limit as much as possible the activities that increase the dispersion of wild boar heads with the potential danger of encouraging the spread of the PSA, in the event that, although not yet detected, the virus is already present. This principle - he points out - is indicated and motivated in 2021 PSA surveillance and prevention plan in Italy of the Ministry of Health and in the document attached to the Plan, Guidelines for the preparation of the management plan at regional level ". "In the face of what has just been explained - concludes the commissioner Morroni - the statements of those exhorting an extension of the hunting calendar".