– We want to learn more about the behavior and movement patterns of the wild boar, says project manager Inger Maren Rivrud. She is a researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Natural Sciences (NINA). On Friday, a wild boar was GPS tagged for the first time in Norway. The 58-kilogram animal was captured at Prestebakke in Halden. Now the researchers can monitor where he is on the terrain hour by hour. Researcher Inger Maren Rivrud says that they want to learn more about how the wild boar behaves. Photo: Norwegian Institute for Natural Research / Press image – We hope that the GPS can sit for a while throughout the year as well, so we can find out if he uses different areas in different seasons, says Rivrud. The aim is to tag ten wild boars before the calendar shows 2024. Unwanted in Norway Wild boars are a blacklisted species in Norway. The population in Norway is concentrated in the border area with Sweden in the south of Østfold. Three out of four wild boars that are shot are felled in this area. – Halden and Aremark are the areas where there are most wild boars. We set our sights there, talked to landowners and have set up stalls, says Rivrud. – Where there are most wild boars, there is also a greater chance for us to catch them. Three wild boars at a feeding ground close to the border with Aremark municipality. The picture was taken with a game camera in 2017. Photo: Pål Sindre Svae For the farmers in Aremark, wild boar is a big and increasing problem. – They destroy plant production, says farmers’ union leader Eivind Eide Reime. He has experienced wild boar plowing up the soil. Reime thinks it will be more demanding to be a farmer if the wild boar population grows. – There can be no more wild boars. Then you cannot farm in Aremark. The farmer’s union leader says that the farmers are not entitled to compensation if wild boar destroys production. – There are no farmers who want to invest a lot of money in something that will only be destroyed when we don’t get compensation. Young species Senior researcher at the Veterinary Institute Jørn Våge says that we have little knowledge about wild boar in Norway. – Although the species lived here for approx. 1000 years ago, the establishment is now considered to be an introduction. Senior researcher Jørn Våge at the Veterinary Institute says that wild boar in Europe have a fatal disease, but that the disease has not reached Norway. Photo: Privat Now the researchers want to gain a better understanding of how the wild boar spreads in Norway. Although the population is today concentrated in Østfold, wild boars have been observed as far north as Trøndelag. – We have little knowledge of how the species will move when it establishes itself and the population grows, says Våge. Wild boar hunting is permitted all year round in Norway. In the 2020/2021 hunting season, 450 wild boars were shot. Eight things you might not know about wild boar 1. Fast as a legal Norwegian moped Wild boar can run up to 50 km/h. They do this when they are threatened and have to run away, or if they are injured and attack. 2. Matriarchal Ladies decide. Sjefssugga likes to send a young wretch out into a field first, to check if the coast is clear… in case there are hunters lurking about. 3. Built-in armor Boars have strong cartilaginous plates under the skin on each side which are called hoods. They act as protection when they fight. 4. Taking precautions If you shoot a wild boar in a herd on a feeding ground, it will take at least three weeks before they return to the same place. 5. They get it from their sweet brother In Sweden, 97,000 wild boars were shot in 2012. There were more than the number of moose shot. 6. Treats Boars are incredibly fond of sweets; cakes and sweets. In fact, caries among wild boars has been a major problem in Sweden. There, people who want to increase the population have put out baked goods and sweets, including polka pigs, in the forest. 7. Urban In Berlin, 3,000 wild boars are shot every year. In Europe, wild boar is a common game, and Germany is among those with the most. 8. Watch your step And you, if a wild boar comes running towards you, it might be good to know that they follow your step! Source: news/forskning.no Aim to prevent the spread of disease It is also important to track the animals in order to map how any disease will be able to spread. In Europe, there have been several outbreaks of wild boar with the disease African swine fever. The disease can affect both wild and domestic pigs. – The disease can also threaten other species and the vegetation, says the senior researcher. – Fortunately, the disease has not crossed over to the Nordic countries. GPS boars can be shot Even if more boars are now GPS tagged, it is still legal to hunt them in Norwegian forests. Project manager Rivrud says that they cannot ensure that the marked animals will be shot. – But we hope that this wild boar, and the others we will hopefully be allowed to tag, will go with the transmitter for a while, so we can get good data on them. She hopes that the hunters let the boar live for a little while. Leon Alexander Røren-Pettersen (11) filmed wild boar at Borge in Fredrikstad at the beginning of April 2021.
ttn-69
