“In the first eight months of 2019 the number of wild boars killed already exceeds the total of cuts in 2018. Incinerators to dispose of carcasses? No, it would cost too much, better enhance the carcasses. The numbers speak for themselves ”. The Veneto regional councilor for agriculture and hunting Joseph Pan, replies point by point to Coldiretti's criticisms of the wild boar containment actions carried out in the Colli park area. Holding the data provided by the extraordinary commissioner al Park of the Euganean Hills, Stefano Sisto, the commissioner goes into detail: from January to August 1187 wild boars were eliminated, thus exceeding the 1169 killing carried out in all of 2018. 65 percent of the animals were caught with manhole covers, 401 were shot down by the selecontroller teams, which number about a hundred men organized into 21 teams guarding 300 fixed positions located in the Park, "one hundred more - underlines the commissioner - than those authorized last year".
“I understand the concerns and the alarm of the farmers of the Hills - says Pan - and in particular of the winegrowers who fear for the harvest, and far be it from me to make controversy. But on the boar issue we have to get out of emotion and evaluate the effectiveness of containment actions with numbers in hand. The reports of the control activity carried out by Parco Colli say that this year the activity of the selecontrollers was enhanced with 25 new entries (out of a total of 108 operators); the teams carried out 42 extraordinary interventions, at the request of the farms, managing to kill 35 wild boars ". “Moreover - adds Pan - particularly effective is the activity of the Park's wildlife team which oversees both the capture activity with the manhole covers (2/3 of the leaders eliminated), and the nocturnal support activity for the selecontrollers: this was possible in 2019 following the increase of two personnel units and the early start of the activity of the personnel seconded from Veneto Agricoltura.
It therefore appears strategic to be able to count on the continuous presence of the wildlife team for 12 months a year, without interruptions in the activity which prove to be very harmful for the containment of wild boars ". As for the carcasses, that Coldiretti would prefer to eliminate through incinerators, Pan replies - data in hand - that, with current regulations and current disposal costs, the cost would be equal to 200-250 euros each, equal to a total cost of 300 thousand euros per year: "Cost not sustainable by the Park", he concludes. "Currently, however, captured or slaughtered animals are delivered to the slaughterhouses authorized by the Park - explains the owner of the regional policies for agriculture and hunting -
This organization, which respects a rigorous hygienic-sanitary chain, allows the recovery and marketing on the territory of the wild boars eliminated in Euganean Hills, with minimal costs for the Park and with the possibility of enhancing and certifying a product that is already widespread in local food and wine circuits (farmhouses, trattorias, points of sale), for the benefit of consumers and in compliance with the principles of the circular economy". The Park Authority - recalls the commissioner - has entered into two agreements this year (with the municipalities of Galzignano and Rovolon) for the construction of platforms for processing and temporary storage of wild boars, with refrigerated cells, and is also at an advanced stage the agreement with the Municipality of Vo '. In this way, through a distributed dislocation of platforms, starting from 2020, the self-managed activity of the selecontrollers can become fully operational.