More than two million wild boars around Italy are a problem not only for agriculture, causing road accidents as well. The call to curb its proliferation has come from many voices and has been taken up by the government, as Coldiretti points out.
“Our proposal to bring the army into the field to stop the invasion of the 2.3 million wild boars in Italy, which cause accidents, damage crops and spread disease, has finally been accepted.” Making this known is the Coldiretti President Ettore Prandini, which called for adequate compensation for damage caused by ungulates, during a government summit attended by Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Minister Francesco Lollobrigida and Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, as well as Special Commissioner for the Psa emergency Vincenzo Caputo.
An action long demanded and shared by a large part of the population, with Nearly seven in ten Italians (69%) who believe there are too many wild boars, with 58 percent considering them a real threat to the population, as well as a serious problem for crops and the environmental balance, as thought by 75 percent of respondents for the Coldiretti/Ixè survey.
“The excessive presence of wild animals is a real national emergency that affects people’s safety as well as the economy and jobs, especially in the most disadvantaged areas.” stresses Prandini, in drawing attention to the need to employ targeted, large-scale interventions to reduce the wild boar threat nationwide.
Herds are pushing closer and closer to homes, destroying crops and causing traffic accidents. The result is that more than six in 10 Italians (62%) have a real fear of them, and nearly half (48%) would not go to live in an area infested with wild boars (Coldiretti/Ixè survey).
“Reducing the wild boar species in numbers also means slowing down the spread of swine fever (PSA) in those areas where there is a greater presence of agro-industrial supply chains linked to pig farms that provide income, employment and allied industries to Italy,” Coldiretti Asti President Monica Monticone points out.
And while the wild boar invasion is beginning to be managed, the problem is getting serious for roe deer, which are affected by a population explosion. Roe deer are particularly fond of shoots, and where they pass, the vine just makes more wood and does not produce the fruit.
