"The citizens in Rome I'm hostage to wild boars. The situation that we have been denouncing for years is unacceptable and now out of control ”. So the president of Coldiretti Lazio, David Granieri, about the attack on a woman in Rome by a herd of eight wild boars, including six cubs. This time it happened to Balduina, in North Rome, in via Anneo Lucano, where a resident was attacked to the head by a large specimen of ungulate, while going to throw out the garbage. It was to save her his dog and a motorist who fortunately was there at the time and loaded them into the car.
"This is not admissible in a capital - continues Granieri - wild boars now represent a serious danger for citizens and also for our farmers, who due to their proliferation are forced to suffer constant invasions in the fields who destroy their crops ". In Lazio, the damage caused by wild boars estimated by the regional federation of Coldiretti, went from an average of 3,5 million in previous years, to 10 million in the pandemic period alone, during which there has been an unprecedented proliferation. Of these two million the damages calculated only in Rome and its province in one year.
In the capital and in the province it is estimated the presence of over 20 thousand wild boars. A number destined to grow, which in Lazio exceeds over 100 thousand. In some cases, farmers have seen up to 80 percent of the crop damaged. "This situation has forced many farms to abandon crops they had been carrying on for generation - continues Granieri - to convert the land to other crops, for example, abandoning corn, which is one of the most affected crops and a favorite of wild boars. A cultivation, that of corn, is essential especially now due to the repercussions of conflict in Ukraine who have seen the costs rise. We cannot afford these losses ”.
The number of attacks by wild boars continues to grow in Rome and its province. It had already happened in Labaro, where a boy was closed for a few minutes in the dog area, surrounded by a herd of twenty wild boars. And then in a supermarket in Formello, where the ungulates had broken the shopping bags of a woman in the parking lot of a supermarket. Same situation always in northern Rome in the area viale Cortina d'Ampezzo, where in recent months a wild boar has loaded a young resident, who was chased for over 100 meters. Things do not change in the Castelli Romani area.
At the lake of Albano he had been attacked and bitten by a wild boar also an 11-year-old boy, forced to seek medical treatment. “There is a total inertia on the part of Roma Natura and its president, Maurizio Gubbiotti, which is evident in their management of the protected areas due to the proliferation of wild boars. Residents don't feel safe inside”, Continues Granieri, underlining that“ in times when the country is aiming for food sovereignty, we cannot jeopardize this path due to the failure to manage a problem that exists and is there for all to see ”. Then there are numerous risks for the road network. According to an analysis by Coldiretti on Asaps data, an accident occurs every 48 hours with 16 victims and 215 injured.
This is the tragic outcome in the year of the Covid emergency of the invasion of wild boars and wild animals, which no longer stop at nothing, breaking down fences, fording rivers and crossing roads and highways, putting people's lives and safety at risk. . In the past decade, the number of serious accidents with deaths and injuries caused by animals has practically doubled (+ 81%) on provincial roads according to the Coldiretti estimate based on Aci Istat data. Coldiretti Lazio last July took to the streets with the slogan #bastacinghiali to demonstrate in front of the headquarters of the Lazio Region. A national mobilization which saw the participation of farmers, citizens and institutions from all over Italy in Montecitorio.