Italy wants to kill one million wild boars

Army to assist in mass cull

One million wild boars Italy intends to kill, with the help of the army among others, over the next three to five years, thereby reducing the population by 60 to 80%.

The Ministry of Agriculture is attempting to contain African swine fever, which threatens, among other things, the production of Prosciutto di Parma.

According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the fever is fatal to pigs but poses no danger to humans. According to the Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO), the virus can survive in animal carcasses for months. There is no vaccine.

Indeed, the African swine fever pathogen persists longer in Parma ham than in other products. Several countries, including China and Japan, have banned the import of the northern Italian specialty; Canada has most recently followed suit.

The Ministry of Agriculture has already requested cooperation with the army.

African swine fever was first detected on the Italian mainland in January 2022; since then, at least 1’000 cases have been identified in wild boars. According to the agricultural association Coldiretti, there are around two million wild boars in Italy.

Food waste as the main problem

Food must therefore be disposed of exclusively in closed containers and in a secure manner. African swine fever is most commonly transmitted through food scraps discarded by humans in the wild.

To combat ASF, the authorities are relying on three measures: establishing a containment zone for wild boars to prevent the spread of the disease, removing wild boar carcasses to ensure the virus does not remain in the surrounding environment.

The cantons may order more extensive measures. They may restrict access to certain areas and prohibit the disposal of food scraps in nature, leaving forest paths, and allowing dogs to run freely. A general hunting ban is also possible.

African swine fever appeared in Georgia in 2007 and in the Baltic states from 2014 onwards. Since then, the virus has spread as far as Germany. In Italy, not far from the border with Ticino, there have been local outbreaks.

Wolves as natural disease controllers

New research findings show that wolves can help reduce the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) in wild boar populations. As wolves hunt wild boar and consume their carcasses, they reduce the amount of virus in the wild without spreading the virus itself.