Street boars?! 🐗

Stray dogs and street cats are commonplace… but have you ever crossed paths with a wild boar on your way back from the grocery store? Well, large groups of feral pigs are now a common sight in some Spanish cities. They’re attracted by garbage bins and people feeding them, and wander about or lie around in parks and suburban streets – where they’ve been causing accidents and pestering people carrying shopping bags.

• Barcelona alone reported 1,200 incidents involving wild boars last year – even the pop star Shakira (!) said the animals had attacked her and her son as they walked in a park.

So, authorities say they have no option but to capture and put them down, as they pose a danger to humans but have become too used to scavenging and lost their instincts to live in the wild.

• Although the problem is not new in the country, it got worse during the COVID-19 pandemic when more wild animals ventured into urban areas that had turned much quieter due to lockdowns.

Barcelona’s plans to tackle the problem include scheduled captures followed by euthanasia, protection of trash bins, fines for residents who feed the animals, and social awareness campaigns. 

• The dead boars are then studied for diseases and food habits.