Wild boars undisturbed
The wild boars continue to roam undisturbed in Puglia with daily raids in the countryside, further aggravating the critical context that farms are experiencing, due to the soaring production costs and the drought that affects crops. This is what Coldiretti Puglia denounces, in relation to the meeting of the mayors of the province of Foggia on the age-old theme, recalling the resolution of the Puglia Region Council which approved the disciplinary for the management of the "Selection Hunting" of wild boars, cervids and bovids in Puglia, strongly desired by Coldiretti which contributed to writing the guidelines, which allows farmers with a hunting card, authorized hunters, voluntary hunting and environmental guards, sworn, provided that they are specifically trained in agreement with the ATC, that they must identify and set up the management districts and the withdrawal sectors.
Few controls
After the numerous Coldiretti demonstrations in Puglia - explains the regional Coldiretti - it was noted that the increase in wild boars and the reduction in the personnel responsible for controlling them has increased the risk of damage to agricultural crops but also to the safety of citizens, given the increase in road accidents caused by wild animals. Hence the decision to proceed with an epochal change of pace with respect to the orientation followed in the last fifteen years, always expanding the mandatory list of subjects in charge of selection hunting in concert with the ATCs. Wild boars destroy agricultural crops, cause road accidents but what is worrying - recalls the regional Coldiretti - are also the health risks caused by the spread of diseases such as swine fever. The situation in the rural areas of the Bari Murgia and in Capitanata is particularly serious and unmanageable, especially in the Gargano area where the habitat is particularly favourable. With Puglia invaded by 250 thousand wild animals, there is not only the plague of wild boars, but there is an alarm for the safety of people in the countryside and in the city with herds that go as far as urban centres, among parked cars, prams with children and elderly people who go shopping, with the areas of the Murgia of Bari and Taranto, the Gargano and the Dauno sub-Apennines having become the Eldorado of wild boars.
Herds too menacing
The herds of wild boars - underlines Coldiretti - move ever closer to homes and schools, up to parks, destroy crops, attack animals, besiege stables, cause road accidents with deaths and injuries and scavenge through waste with obvious risks for Health. The situation has become unsustainable in the city and in the countryside with incalculable economic damage to agricultural production but - underlines Coldiretti - the environmental balance of vast territorial ecosystems in areas of naturalistic value is also compromised with the loss of both animal and vegetable biodiversity. It is - highlights the regional Coldiretti - only the tip of the iceberg because many do not report discouraged by the bureaucratic delays and by the conditions imposed by the insurance companies such as, for example, in addition to the traces on the car and on the asphalt, also the discovery of the animal's carcass with which we collided.
Wild invasion
The invasion of streets and squares by wild animals is experienced by citizens as a real emergency, so much so that over eight Italians out of 10 (81%) - according to the Coldiretti/Ixè survey - think that it should be tackled with the use of killings, above all by appointing specialized personnel to reduce their number also because one Italian adult out of four (26%) has come face to face with these animals. According to the Coldiretti/Ixè survey, wildlife represents a problem for the vast majority of citizens (90%) considering that in the last year an accident has occurred every 41 hours with 13 victims and 261 seriously injured due to the invasion of wild boars and wild animals that stop at nothing, according to Coldiretti's analysis of Asaps data. In the last ten years the number of serious accidents with deaths and injuries caused by animals has practically doubled (+81) on provincial roads according to the Coldiretti estimate on Aci Istat data. 69% of Italians believe that wild boars are too numerous while there is even 58% who consider them a real threat to the population, as well as a serious problem for crops and for the environmental balance as 75% think % of respondents. The result is that over six Italians out of 10 (62%) are really afraid of it and almost half (48%) would not even take a house in an area infested with wild boars.
Need for targeted interventions
When asked who should solve the problem, over half of the citizens (53%) are of the opinion that it is up to the Regions, while for 25% it is the Government's task and 22% is up to the Municipalities. In this scenario, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has also launched an appeal to the Member States of the European Union asking for extraordinary measures to prevent wild boars from having access to food and reduce the number of animals to limit the risk of spreading the disease. African swine fever (ASF) which affects animals but not humans. The majority of citizens consider the excessive presence of wild animals a real national emergency that affects people's safety as well as the economy and work, especially in the most disadvantaged areas, concludes Coldiretti in underlining the need for targeted interventions and on a large scale to reduce the threat of wild boars nationwide (source: Coldiretti).