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Of: TT
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Photo: Fredrik Sandberg / TT
Last year, some 146,000 wild boars were killed by hunters in Sweden. Stock Photography.
Last year, a record number of wild boars were shot – more than 146,000 animals.
However, it is not enough to reduce the damage that pigs cause to foresters and farmers, believes LRF.
– We prefer to receive more and more reports that the damage is increasing, says Palle Borgström, president of the Swedish Farmers Association (LRF).
During the last hunting year alone (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020), the number of wild boars shot has increased by 30 percent in Sweden compared to the previous year, from approximately 112,000 to 146,000 dead animals, according to statistics from the Swedish Hunters Association.
Good ollonår
– There are several reasons for the increase. Last year was a good acorn year in many places and mild winters, leading to increased survival and that wild boars are better off in the heat and can give birth to more cubs, says Jesper Einarsson, Grooming Consultant hunting at the Swedish Hunters Association.
In general, hunters have also developed more efficient hunting methods for wild boar, but above all, since the previous hunting year, it has been allowed to use, for example, the dark sight when hunting wild boar.
– Wild boars are nocturnal, which has been a challenge for hunters in the past, says Jesper Einarsson.
Around 146,000 wild boars killed are the highest record since the hunters association in the early 1990s began keeping statistics on the species. Despite the record, there are very few wild boars shot, LRF believes.
– To reduce the wild boar population, we will probably need to shoot even more wild boars, says the president of the National Union, Palle Borgström.
Wild boar farming is estimated to cause SEK 1.1 billion worth of damage to agriculture per year, according to the latest available report (2015) from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
– If we look at how the shooting of animals and the increase in traffic accidents with wild boars has increased, and we assume that there is a connection there, the LRF estimate is that the cost is probably SEK 1.5 to 2 billion today, Borgström says. .
Packed in the freezer
LRF believes that it is unreasonable to be allowed to feed wild boars in Sweden, but four years ago the Riksdag said no to the government’s proposal to ban the feed. Now the problem may soon reach the Riksdag again, reports Swedish Hunting.
– The question is being prepared now. The ambition and the hope is to be able to send the proposal to the Riksdag sometime in the new year, says the magazine of the Minister of Rural Affairs Jennie Nilsson (S).
The government also wants to make it easier for hunters to sell wild boar meat directly to consumers, which is currently not allowed, and the problem is being investigated, for example, by the National Food Administration.
Such a change could lead to more wild boar hunting, believes LRF.
– When hunters have fired in their own freezer and the meat cannot be sold, the incentive to go hunting decreases, says Palle Borgström.
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