Watch: Wild boars wandering into Cartagena will be caught and shot

Repeated incursions into residential areas are causing concern for locals and authorities

Wild boars in parks on Avenida Nueva Cartagena on August 29

Cartagena City Hall is reportedly preparing a plan to tackle the problem of wild boars straying into neighbourhoods in the west of the city at night.

More sightings have been reported since a video went viral of a group of eight wild boars running around in the middle of the Nueva Cartagena neighbourhood during the first week of August.

These include in the neighbourhoods of La Concepción, La Vaguada and San José Obrero.

Most recently, a group of about 10 including adults and a few young were seen around the Cartagonova stadium, an area where many residents go for walks.

Discussions are underway with the Region of Murcia Environment Department about how to capture the animals.

They have said that the only viable solution involves setting traps, but for these to work they are first studying the animals’ behaviour by placing bait.

This initial phase can take around 10 days before the traps can be installed. European legislation requires the animals to be culled once trapped, as relocation is not permitted.

After being put down, the carcasses have to be taken to an authorised waste management facility. City Hall is currently identifying suitable, safe locations for the traps.

Wild boar are common in areas of Cartagena such as Calblanque, Lo Poyo, El Carmolí, and Escombreras.

In February last year, the regional government organised a cull, at City Hall’s request, in collaboration with the Murcia Regional Hunting Federation and agricultural association COAG Murcia, resulting in the death of 83 animals, most of them female.

This sort of action is usually requested by farmers, whose crops are often damaged by these animals. 

However, the spread of wild boar in urban areas continues to grow across the country, due to lack of food in their natural habitat and the absence of predators.

They move about freely at night when there is not much traffic and are drawn to food waste, grassy parks, and irrigated areas.

Wild boar do not generally attack humans unprovoked, but they can become dangerous if they feel cornered or if someone gets too close to a sow with piglets. It is therefore advised not to approach them – especially with a dog – not to feed them, and to contact emergency services if one is spotted.

Animal rights political party PACMA recently criticised what it called "a contradiction in public policies" affecting wild boar in the Region of Murcia.

They argued that while the authorities present the situation "as a problem of overpopulation, practices that contribute to it are still being allowed".

An estimated 13,000 wild boar are hunted each year in the Region of Murcia. However, regional and national legislation continues to permit the restocking of wildlife for hunting purposes, under the pretext of ensuring the "sustainable availability" of game animals and preserving supposed "rural traditions".

PACMA proposes alternatives based on scientific and ethical principles: banning wildlife restocking for hunting, strengthening habitat protection, implementing non-lethal population control programmes, and promoting realistic and respectful coexistence with wild animals.

Images: Asociación de Vecinos Nueva Cartagena / Facebook