A study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment by Joana Colomer, industrial doctoral student at Minuartia and the Institute for Biodiversity Research –IRBio UB, Carme Rosell (Minuartia), José Domingo Rodríguez-Teijeiro (IRBio and Dept. of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences of the Faculty of Biology of the UB) and Giovanna Massei (Animal and Plant Health Agency of the United Kingdom), It describes the reserve effect and the opportunities it implies for the control of wild boar populations and mitigating the conflicts they cause. The initial study was funded by the Barcelona Provincial Council, and was carried out in two nature reserves within the Montseny Natural Park.
Original news: www.ub.edu (06/07/2021) · Industrial Doctorate Project between the company Minuartia and the Biodiversity Research Institute – IRBio UB
Growth of wild boar populations
This fact makes the interaction between wild boar and human activity inevitable, and the conflicts it causes have increased in recent years. Some of the most frequent are damage to agriculture, infrastructure, traffic accidents, risk of disease transmission, impacts on biodiversity conservation, among others. In addition, these impacts also have important economic implications, since the costs derived from accidents and damage caused by wild boar amount to millions of euros.
Damage mitigation and control of wild boar populations
In this study, the presence of wild boars within two nature reserve areas was evaluated using camera traps, where regular hunting of wild boars is not allowed, and only sporadic hunts are authorized for population control. The results indicate that these areas act as refuges where wild boars that escape from the surrounding hunting areas are concentrated. This phenomenon is called the "reserve effect" and causes localized increases in density in areas where hunting is prohibited.
The results also show that organized hunts within these reserves are effective, and with a single action a very significant decrease in density can be achieved, which is also maintained for a long period of time. Therefore, the existence of these refuge areas also presents opportunities to apply very efficient population control measures. These results are also relevant for the management of outbreaks of diseases in wild boars, such as African Swine Fever during the control and eradication phases. It can also be applied to vaccination campaigns against diseases.
