Wallonia is going to kill all wild boars

The Walloon government wants to eradicate African swine fever by shooting all wild boars in the infected area, writes the Belgian news website Vilt.

The forests in the infected area (approximately 16.000 hectares) have been open to the public since April, which has increased the risk of contamination to other areas. René Collin, the Walloon Minister of Nature, wants to suppress the animal disease by killing all wild boars in the area.

Since the hunting of wild boars is prohibited, the government takes control itself. For example, drive hunts are organized by government officials. The aim is to halve the population of wild boars throughout Wallonia by 2020.

800 infected boars
African swine fever was diagnosed in Belgium for the first time in September and infected wild boars have been found every week since then. Up to the end of May, 2.846 wild boars have been examined, of which 814 were infected.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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