recently
Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Xiji County, Guyuan City, Ningxia
Released the selection of hunting teams for the comprehensive prevention and control of wild boars
and the announcement of the harmless treatment team,
It is planned to hunt within the prefecture of Xiji
300 adult wild boars over 40 kg,
Hunting adult wild boars is compensated 2,400 yuan per head,
Harmless treatment of adult wild boars is 200 yuan per head.
The announcement has aroused social concern.
The staff of the Xiji County Forestry and Grassland Bureau told reporters that the project has national policy support and is looking for a hunting team. At present, it is still in the registration stage, and there are many hunting teams consulted, and they will be selected according to the situation. Workers in several townships and towns in Xiji County said that the wild boar population in the area was overrun, seriously affecting crop and traffic safety.
In fact, the infestation of wild boars is far more than just Xiji County. According to data from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, 2 million wild boars are distributed in 28 provinces on the mainland, and many provinces have too high numbers, including 26 provinces.
Hunting a wild boar will reward 2,400 yuan
Local: Wild boar infestations affect crops and traffic safety
On September 23, the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Xiji County, Ningxia issued the "Announcement on the Selection of the Hunting Team and Harmless Treatment Team of the 2024 Central Finance Xiji County Wild Boar Comprehensive Prevention and Control Project", stating that it plans to hunt 300 adult (more than 40 kg) wild boars in Xiji County, with a compensation of 2,400 yuan per head and a budget of 720,000 yuan; 300 adult (more than 40 kg) wild boars were harmlessly treated, each head was 200 yuan, and the budget was 60,000 yuan.
The staff of the Guyuan Forestry and Grassland Bureau Office explained that due to the large number of wild boars in the past two years, incidents of damage to the crops of surrounding farmers have also often occurred. "Every year, the government has to take a certain amount of money to compensate, so it applied for a population control project, and after the number of wild boars exceeds the carrying capacity of a fixed area, a certain number of population control will be issued to the forestry and grass department to kill adult wild boars."
The staff member said that the killing of wild boars is based on scientific monitoring and evaluation, not blind hunting.
The reporter noticed that in recent years, wild boars have been found to be raging crops in Xiji County many times, affecting the production and life of local farmers, and the problem of wild boar flooding needs to be solved urgently. In 2021, Ningxia was also identified as one of the national pilot provinces and regions for the prevention and control of wild boar hazards. According to the official website of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Anhui, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Shaanxi and other provinces and regions, including Ningxia, have carried out comprehensive pilot work on the prevention and control of wild boar hazards.
In 2021, wild boars broke into the cattle farm of Sugou Village, Nihe Township, Xiji County, and stole corn (Image source: Internet)
Wild boar damage has affected 26 provinces across the country
Governance has become a broad issue
In fact, in recent years, with the implementation of a series of projects such as natural forest protection, nature reserves and wildlife protection across the country, the ecological environment quality of wildlife habitats has continued to improve, and the population of wild boars and other wild animals has continued to grow.
Due to the strong fecundity, high survival rate, wide adaptability of wild boars, and relatively small populations of natural enemies, the population of wild boars in some areas has surged, resulting in a large number of human-animal conflicts.
Almost every year during the spring planting and autumn harvest, you can see news about wild boars coming down the mountain to harm farmland.
According to a previous report by China News Weekly, in some counties in Guyuan, Ningxia, the vast majority of locals rely on farming for their livelihood. Because of the lack of water, the crops depend on the weather for food. "Sometimes it finally rains, and the rain stops, and the pigs come, and the year is in vain."
Hounds hunting wild boars
A January 2024 reply from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration said, "After scientific and comprehensive assessment, experts believe that wild boars are distributed in 28 provinces on the mainland, with a population of 2 million, and there is no longer a threat to survival, and the number of many provinces is too high, including 26 provinces, which has adversely affected the production and life of local people, and is in line with the basic principle of adjustment." ”
In June 2023, the bureau issued an announcement to remove wild boars from the List of Terrestrial Wild Animals with Important Ecological, Scientific and Social Value (hereinafter referred to as the "List of Three Haves"). This means that wild boars are removed from the list of "nationally protected wild animals".
The reporter noted that as early as 2017, the State Forestry Administration issued the "Emergency Notice on Effectively Regulating Wild Boar Populations and Preventing and Controlling Wild Boar Hazards".
In 2021, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration has launched a comprehensive pilot project for the prevention and control of wild boar hazards in 14 provinces (regions) including Shanxi, Sichuan, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hebei, Guangdong, Shaanxi, Hunan, Hubei, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, Anhui and Ningxia.
Ningxia "bounty hunter" Ma Yunlong (pseudonym) recalled that starting around 2022, the local "bounty hunting" of wild boars began.
In addition to bounty hunting, various provinces have also introduced relevant measures. For example, Zhejiang has set up special work classes or leading groups at different levels; Shaanxi and other pilot areas have set up 117 hunting teams; Guangdong Province has included the prevention and control of wildlife hazards in the forest chief system and the assessment of wildlife protection work of people's governments at all levels; Fujian has included the loss of cash crops caused by wild boars in agricultural insurance; Shaanxi has included the medical treatment of wild animals injured by residents in the scope of reimbursement for cooperative medical treatment.
Bounty hunter, courtesy of the interviewee
Experts: Wild boars are already the most harmful wild animals
But governance is an international problem
Hu Huijian, a researcher at the Institute of Zoology of the Guangdong Academy of Sciences and a director of the Chinese Zoological Society, said in an interview with reporters that wild boars are strong and can adapt to different climatic conditions, from the northeast to Hainan Island, from tropical rainforests to cold zones, from arid areas to humid areas, including Tibet and Xinjiang. It can be said that the harm of wild boars has taken on national characteristics, and wild boars have become the most harmful and widest wild animals in the country.
"Because the ecosystem is a chain, there are fewer tigers, leopards, bears and other animals that can control wild boars in the ecosystem, coupled with the strong tolerance and fast reproductive ability of wild boars, which has formed a status quo of over-speed development." Hu Huijian said.
The reporter noticed that in addition to the wild and rural areas, wild boars are also often "haunted" in Nanjing, Hangzhou, Zhuhai and other cities, and there have been incidents of injury.
In March of this year,
Zhuhai main urban park,
There have been large wild boars
Zhuhai Campus of Beijing Normal University
Wild boars have also appeared
Is it scientific to control wild boars in the form of "bounty hunting"?
Many experts believe that hunting wild boars is a helpless move, and after wild boars are removed from the list of "national protected wild animals" in 2023, hunting wild boars has also been legally feasible. However, it is still necessary to pay attention to issues such as process management and processing methods.
Yang Daodao, director of the Institute of Wildlife Conservation at Central South University of Forestry and Technology and a member of the China Committee of the International Biodiversity Program, said in an interview with reporters that there was no government subsidy for hunting wild boars because wild boars could be sold for money. Later, the state stipulated that wild boars could not be eaten, and the local government gave hunting subsidies. Wild boars must be harmlessly disposed of or provided as food to zoos.
Yang Daode believes that it is not enough to rely on private hunting forces to control wild boars, and government departments need to strengthen industry guidance and business supervision, and manage hunting methods, time, scope, and hunting quantities.
"Controlling wild boars is an international problem, and wild boars often appear on the streets of European countries, and they have used birth control, drive, hunting and other means, but they are still miserable." Hu Huijian said.
Source: Top News, Jimu News, Zhuhai Special Zone Daily, Guangzhou Daily