Wild boar, in our country is a proper national three-level protected animals, because of this name, people do not dare to use their hands and feet, resulting in these years in some parts of our country, wild boar began to flood locally, according to statistics, China's existing wild boar about 1.2 million, the current number in Shaanxi Province is about 200,000, it can be said that wild boar in Shaanxi has begun to flood, so that there are often wild boar injuries, damage to crops, can not be disturbed by the Shaanxi people, finally, the Shaanxi Forestry Bureau decided to take strong measures against wild boars in the province.
▲ Manga: Cao Yi
Due to the continuous increase in the number of wild boars and the protection umbrella of the national third-level protected animals, many farmers are miserable. In January 2021, the People's Daily published an article saying:
"I don't dare to fight, and I can't prevent it", "Watching the crops being ruined", "Many people dare not cultivate the land"... With the increase of the country's efforts to protect wild animals, the number of some wild animals has increased significantly. At the same time, some wild animal populations with strong reproductive capacity and destructive nature have seriously endangered crop growth in some mountainous areas, of which wild boars are particularly typical.
Crops in mountainous areas of Guangdong, Hunan, Anhui, Shaanxi, Gansu, Hebei and other places are all spoiled by wild boar to varying degrees.
Due to the relatively large size of wild boars, conventional methods of resistance and expulsion have limited effect on them, and even many farmers are overwhelmed and have the idea of giving up farming.
In 2019, many wild boars came to Shawo Village, Foping County, Shaanxi Province, the village planted 50,000 square meters of pig lily, 10,000 square meters of tianma and other understory crops, wild boars feel that these crops are quite appetiteful, so Lai does not leave in the village, which can be bitter to the local villagers, because these forest crops contribute 40% of the annual income of the locals.
Hou Yong, village director, said: "From last year to this year, the area destroyed by wild boars in the pig lily and tianma we planted may reach 80%; this year, pig lily and tianma growers cannot get back the cost." ”
In addition to destroying crops, wild boar injuries also occur from time to time.
On January 31, 2018, a wild boar injury incident occurred in Peiba Village, Ankang City, Shaanxi Province, a wild boar of more than 200 pounds suddenly broke into the village, and then attacked an old man, next to someone saw that the old man was knocked down, quickly picked up the hoe to try to stop the wild boar, who knew that the wild boar was not afraid to fight, and then began to attack the woman next to it, the wild boar caused a total of one death and one injury.
The locals, seeing that they were not wild boar rivals, hurried to the police until the police arrived and killed the wild boar.
It is precisely because the destructive power of wild boars is now too strong, the Shaanxi Forestry Bureau issued an announcement on July 30: shortening the wild boar hunting ban period to 2 months, from March 1 to October 31 to March 30 every year.
This means that the no-game period has been shortened from 8 months per year to 2 months, and the time that can be hunted has been extended from 4 months to 10 months.
For Shaanxi to reduce the number of wild boars by extending the hunting time, Dr. Sun Quanhui, a scientist at the World Society for the Protection of Animals, said that wild boars belong to the "three haves" protected animals in China, that is, terrestrial wild animals that are beneficial or have important economic and scientific research value, and wild boars have a very important role in the ecosystem.
It is only because of the current disappearance or decrease of the population of carnivores such as tigers, leopards, jackals, and wolves, which has led to fewer natural enemies of wild boars, coupled with its strong reproductive ability, so the situation of wild boars is now so rampant.
So, does the Shaanxi Forestry Bureau extend the wild boar hunting time, does this work?
In the short term, it is indeed possible to reduce the number of wild boars, compared with wild boars, humans have a more intelligent brain, will also use tools scientifically, and there can be a variety of means of outsmarting wild boars to capture.
In addition, in the process of capturing wild boars, humans will also be prone to spread fear in wild boars, and they will no longer easily approach humans, let alone have no fear.
However, in the long run, if the wild boar is to be controlled within a reasonable population, it is still necessary to restore the natural enemies of the wild boar and maintain the ecological balance.
Since the increased hunting time means that more wild boars can be captured, can the captured wild boars be edible?
If from the perspective of diet, wild boar meat can indeed be eaten, and the meat quality is also very good, however, because wild boar is still a national third-level protected animal, belongs to the national prohibited wild animals, the captured wild boar can not eat, the purpose of open hunting is to control the number of wild boar.