Hunting in Tuscany - Siena: Two hunters caught while illegally feeding wild boars. The services of the Forest Guard continue in the hunting field.
Over the weekend, the staff of the Forestry Station Command of Montalcino, as part of a broader activity aimed at verifying compliance with the regulations governing hunting, surprised two hunters, belonging to the local team of wild boar hunting, while they were sprinkling, in a wooded area, tens of kilograms of feed, consisting of wheat mixed with corn, intended for illegal foraging of wild boars.
This irregular practice has the purpose of concentrating and increasing the game heads within the territory assigned to the boar hunting team in the form of a hunt.
The feeding point, like others present in the Municipality of Montalcino, had long been controlled by the staff of the State Forestry Corps; the two hunters risk an administrative fine of up to 2.000 euros and the collective suspension of the entire team from wild boar hunting.
As is known, in the province of Siena, in recent years, the wild boar population has considerably expanded its range, demonstrating great adaptability to the most disparate ecological conditions. This expansion, in addition to entailing ecological and economic criticalities due to the damage caused to crops, also poses problems of public safety, especially in relation to road accidents.
Among the causes that have favored the expansion and growth of wild boar populations over time, in addition to the natural ones inherent in the plasticity of the species and its prolificacy, we can undoubtedly include the particular territorial context of the province of Siena. However, the causes attributable to human actions are also not secondary, first of all those concerning the practice of artificial feeding of wild boars by administering food for long periods (dissuasive foraging), a practice once allowed but currently prohibited by the current law. , except for any authorizations in derogation issued by the Province of Siena for proven needs. This practice, conceived and adopted at the time with the aim of reducing damage to crops, has in fact become a formidable tool for increasing the populations of the suide.
Illegal foraging of wild boars, as demonstrated by the activity carried out by the State Forestry Corps, is still a rather widespread practice in many areas of the province, despite the fact that the Tuscany Region has long since banned this practice.
05.08.2014
Source: Sienafree.it