Only a month after plans to cull 100 wild boars in Heilongjiang Province were scuppered by
ferocious public opposition, east China's Zhejiang Province has announced it slaughtered
1,360 wild boars over a 40-day period this autumn.
The provincial forestry authorities said this week that they
culled wild boars between September 21 and October 30 to protect
the local people who had been injured or had seen their property
damaged by the boars.
Last month, forestry officials in Heilongjiang suspended the
cull of 100 wild boars after a fervent media and public campaign
culminated in 10,000 people signing a petition against the
plan.
Ding Liangdong, head of the Zhejiang Provincial Forest Resources
Protection Station, was quick to defend his decision. "The wild
boars were culled because their number had increased rapidly in
some areas of Zhejiang where domestic animals have been frequently
attacked and crops have been damaged," he said, adding that "they
were also threatening the lives of local people. We have received
reports of wild boars attacking villagers."
Local forestry authorities estimate the provincial wild boar
population at 100,000. The number has leapt from 29,000 in 2000
following environmental improvement.
Contrary to previous media reports, an official with the State
Forestry Administration said the wild boar was not on the
state-level protection list. He said they were listed among a group
of wild animals that could be used for "scientific research and
economic purposes". He refused to comment on cull of wild boars in
Zhejiang.
"Wild boars are not on the provincial key protection list and,
according to the provincial law on protection of wild animals,
local forestry authorities have the right to take measures to
control the population of wild animals if its number increases
rapidly and the animals cause damage and hurt local people," Ding
said. "The culling of wild boars in Zhejiang did not violate
China's law."
The decision will likely rouse the blood of animal rights
activists and sections of the general public given the ire aimed at
the previous culling attempt in Heilongjiang.
Local people in the northeastern province argued that the
killing of 100 wild boars would damage the local ecology and
threaten the existence of the species. Others suggested that wild
boars should be relocated to less populated areas.?
Experts estimate that China's wild boar population is around 1
million thanks to conservation efforts and better ecological
management.
However, the animals have often invaded villagers' homes,
damaged crops and hurt local villagers, according to reports from
the provinces of Heilongjiang, Anhui, Henan and Zhejiang in recent years.
Anhui alone has reported over 30 cases involving attacks on
people by wild boars this year.
(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2006)