Section:GDN 1J PaGe:9 Edition Date:190730 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 29/7/2019 17:42 cYanmaGentaYellowbla

Tuesday 30 July 2019 The Guardian •

9

Running out of green space,

wild boar have become a

menace in European cities. In

Barcelona, where they jostle

tourists and raid rubbish bins,

the fi ghtback has begun.

By Bernhard Warner

COLLSEROLA NATURAL PARK looms over

Barcelo na, rising to about 500 metres at the Tibidabo

peak. This forested ridge eff ectively walls off the city’s

growth. Collserola is rich with wildlife, home to more

than 190 animal species. Overlooking a city of more

than 20 million residents and tourists, it has become a

battlefron t between human and nature. On many a hot

Catalan night, wild boar from Collserola, alone or in

gangs, descend on the city and mingle with the human

population carousing after hours.

The encounters between Barcelonan and beast are

numerous, peaking in 2016 when police logged 1,187

phone calls about nuisance boars on the loose – wild

hogs rooting up turf, munching trash, attacking dogs,

plundering cat-feeders, holding up traffi c and running

into cars. For the past decade, Barcelona has been

desperately searching for a way to keep the boar from

colonising the leafy neighbourhoods that back up

against Collserola. The low point came in 2013 when a

policeman shot at a boar with his service revolver, but

hit and maimed his partner instead.

Listed on the World Conservation Union’s most

invasive species list, the wild boar does well in just

about any environment, from semi-arid plains to alpine

forests and marshy grasslands. But more and more, they

are drawn to city life. In Barcelona and Berlin, Houston

and Hong Kong, groups of wild boar have been seen

roaming around town at all hours. In Rome, where I live,

boars rooting through uncollected piles of trash ha ve

come to symboli se the decline of the city.

The arrival of wild boar in town squares and city

parks is forcing us to confront a new reality: we are

bumping up against the limits of urbanisation. This

is a crisis we have largely infl icted on ourselves. City

sprawl is driving the species out of its dwindling

natural habitats and forcing it to live alongside us. At

the same time, we entice it with the tides of garbage

and wasted food that wash around our cities. For

years, boar have been fattening up on our crops. And

now they follow us into our dirty, sprawling cities.

Although their numbers are increasing as they migrate

to the cities, the move is making them – and us – sick.

Boars carry a host of diseases, including

tuberculosis, hepatitis E and infl uenza A,

that can make the jump to humans. 

TIM FLACH/GETTY/

GUARDIAN DESIGN

TueTuTueTusday 30 July 2019 The Guardian •

TIM FLACH/GETTY/

GUARDIAN DESIGN

Boar wars

The long read

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