An episode that is incredible
I wild boars in Liguria they no longer stop on the streets: now they even reach the tables of restaurants. A full-blown and decidedly dangerous invasion, as evidenced by the now viral video on the internet and social media which portrays two large specimens which, on the evening of Thursday 23 March, peeked out during the dinner of two foreign tourists, intent on eating a restaurant by the sea in Santa Margherita Ligure, trying to steal the food on their table. “The situation is rapidly worsening – commented Luca Dalpian and Paolo Campocci, President and Director of Coldiretti Genova – and is becoming more dangerous every day for citizens and tourists. Quick and punctual measures are urgently needed before someone gets really hurt".
The invasion of the boars
According to estimates, to date there are over 2,3 million wild boars in Italy. And Liguria, especially in the areas of Genoa and the east - for some time now affected by a strong overpopulation of these specimens - finds itself experiencing a surreal situation. A clear example of this is the video in question, released on social media by a port operator in the area and taken up by local newspapers, where you can clearly see the two ungulates intent on looking for food directly from the plates of the foreign couple, eyewitnesses of the facts. “Wild boars continually cause accidents, often with deaths and injuries – continue Dalpian and Campocci – as well as being a real scourge for fields and tables. In Liguria, then, the spread of African swine fever is added to the overpopulation of ungulates, a problem our Region has been fighting against since January 2022. A year of commissioner has served no purpose, except to build a fence which, in the end , it also proved to be useless. Also for this reason, we expect a change of course from the new commissioner, now more than ever necessary ".
An increasingly worrying situation
Added to this, then, is the perpetration of the energy crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine and the consequent expenditure of farmers for energy and raw materials, in addition clearly to the contingent drought, a phenomenon which has further aggravated the food deficit of Liguria and Italy whole. “We need to give answers to the tens of thousands of companies - conclude the President and Director of Coldiretti Genova - who see their work canceled every day by wild boars, proliferated without any control. And also to citizens and tourists, whose safety is put at risk every day by the indiscriminate presence of ungulates even in the city. The example of Santa Margherita Ligure is only the latest in a long series. We need to act quickly before things get even worse, before someone gets really hurt” (Coldiretti).