Alex Trelinski
WILD boars have been spotted rifling through garbage containers in the Javea area of the Costa Blanca and removing individual bags with their teeth.
They’ve been photographed on the Costa Nova urbanisation climbing up the containers.
The boars then throw the bags onto the ground and scatter the contents before helping themselves to what they want.
READ MORE:
- Watch: Wild boar goes on rampage in Spain’s Madrid as it charges at locals and bites a police officer
- Wild boar numbers surge by 700% in Malaga province raising risk of diseases and cross breeding
- Cyclist, 59, is seriously injured after swerving to avoid a wild boar on Spain’s Costa Blanca
There have been regular sightings for months in Costa Nova- especially during the summer when boars feasted on trash bags dumped by tourists.
Boar numbers have risen in recent years along with increased appearances in urban Alicante province areas- especially in the Marina Alta.
Some but not all experts believe their habitats on higher ground have produced less vegetation- not helped by forest fires.
The Animal Defence platform says the boars are going to built-up areas to look for food due to the ‘abandonment of rural areas’.
Marina Alta mayors held a meeting in Javea last February to discuss the boar proliferation which has resulted in crop destruction and the spread of diseases.
They also pose a major hazard to road users with accidents on the rise.
Measures like extra hunting were supported by the mayors to reduce numbers.
Animal Defence platform member and biologist, Rosa Mas, says any solution should not involve killing and designated areas set up for hunting should not be allowed.
“We have a problem because essentially we don’t know for certain what the issue is,” she said.
She called for a study to be carried out why boars have moved and what has caused it.
“They get used to the human environment and not having to look for food from where they come from, which causes them to get closer to urban centres,” Mas added.
“We don’t know if there is overpopulation among boars or a problem that the ecosystem cannot deal with.”
