Wild boars cause damage to crops in Sever do Vouga

Câmara informs that it is working with local associations to try to mitigate the problem and that 30 animals have already been slaughtered.

The complaints add up. The agricultural population of Sever do Vouga is tired of the damage caused by wild boars in their crops. Therefore, it has appealed to the City Council, with the aim of finding a solution to the problem. The Municipality, for its part, guarantees that it is working with the local associations that manage the Municipal Hunting Areas (ZCM) and that, as a result of this partnership, around 30 animals have already been slaughtered.

A source from the Câmara de Sever do Vouga said this Wednesday to JN that the damage caused by wild boars is noted, “for example, in the cultivation of corn”. “The wild boars go there and destroy the ears when they are looking for food”. In addition, “they have also caused road accidents”.

In total, by concession – supervised by the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forestry (ICNF) -, there are four ZCM in the municipality of Sever do Vouga: Silva Escura, Rocas and Couto Esteves, Sever Sul and Dornelas. Each is managed by an association or hunting club.

Following the “growing discontent on the part of the population”, the Câmara de Sever do Vouga says that it met with the different associations, to find solutions to the problem. “The natural expansion of the species, the type of forest, the reduction and the model of cultivation were identified as the main causes of the increase in cases”, explained the Autarchy led by Pedro Novo.

“The associations were asked to promote methods of killing or scaring away the species, that extraordinary correction requests were requested from the ICNF and that more hunting days be dedicated to this species”, explained the Chamber. For their part, the associations said that they are dependent on legal conditions, which prevent hunting near villages and industrial zones, as well as restrictions on hunting periods, which limit the slaughter of wild boar.

At the same time, the Municipality says that the actions carried out since the beginning of the year have already allowed “a total of slaughters very close to 30 specimens, through mounts and waiting”. This last hunting method, waiting, “has been the most effective in controlling specimens”. However, according to the Chamber, as it is a “nocturnal and silent action, its implementation and the consequent results have gone unnoticed by the population”.