Name: Sus scrofa.
Appearance: Stocky, hairy and causing a nuisance on the Costa del Sol.
Ah, this is about British tourists I suppose – I saw Málaga council has been telling them to put their clothes back on and stop singing late at night. Actually, it’s about boars.
Boars – you mean the things Astérix eats? Yes, those guys. They are invading the beach resorts of southern Spain with increasing frequency, even roaming the streets of Málaga and other cities. It’s not just Spain either – they’ve been spotted digging up gardens and frolicking on beaches in Brittany this autumn too.
Hang on, an image is coming back to me. An image of … a naked German man? Yes, you’re recalling the nude bather in Berlin who gave chase when a family of boars nicked his laptop back in 2020. They are becoming more common there, too, and in many European cities.
Why? I bet it’s our fault. Yes, of course. The climate crisis has led to drought and forest fires in their natural mountain habitats, meaning the boars are short of water and it’s harder for them to find food. Cities are full of tasty food waste for them to plunder, and water sources. But it’s also about numbers.
Are there more boars around generally then? Yes – according to boar expert Dr Giovanna Massei of the University of York, “the population of wild boar is growing incredibly quickly worldwide. This is largely due to the declining numbers of hunters.”
I’m struggling to see this as a problem: for once an animal is thriving! Wild boar are cute, too. Well, if 70kg of hairy muscle is your type, I suppose so, but unfortunately, they are causing havoc. Rifling through tourist’s picnics is just the tip of the iceberg: boars are causing road accidents and attacking dogs. They can also transmit diseases such as African swine fever and, Massei says, “tuberculosis toxoplasmosis that can be transmitted to humans”.
So what can be done about them? Well, some parts of the Costa del Sol have implemented a cull. In 2022, the city of Mijas hired archers to shoot and kill them, and Marbella and Málaga councils have also allowed them to be hunted by archers.
That seems awfully brutal. Yes, vets and animal rights groups have protested and Málaga has suspended the programme and is trying a different approach: shooting boar with tranquilliser darts, then getting them humanely euthanised.
That’s still a bit of a downer. Are there other ways to keep the boar at bay? Some places have installed drinking troughs to allow the boar to drink without heading to beach bars for a cheeky cerveza. There’s also a pilot programme in Italy giving them oral contraceptives.
Pigs on the pill! Yes, it’s probably better than stags on the pull.
Do say: “This beach is overrun with hairy grunting beasts trashing everything.”
Don’t say: “And the boars are a problem, too.”
This article was first published by The Guardian on 23 October 2024. Lead Image: A wild time at the beach … a boar approaches bathers on the Costa del Sol. Photograph: Hibbeler Markus/Action Press/Shutterstock.
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