Game accidents caused by wild boar – so many have happened this year

Daniel Strömberg has had to patch and mend the lawn several times during the summer, after the wild boar’s nocturnal ravages. But the damage caused by the animals’ barking is not the only thing that worries him.

– It’s a bit difficult when you have children who like to play outside, want to camp and play in the forest. It could be big animals there, you never know, he says.

Neighbor Leif Grimslätt has lived in the area for a long time and has never experienced the wild boar as many and as close as this year.

– It’s boring. I have lived here for 50 years and nothing like this has ever happened. Deer come occasionally, but they don’t do much damage, he says.

The strain may have grown to record levels

Among other things, based on wildlife accident statistics, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency fears that the wild boar population, after a few years of decline, has grown again this year – to record levels. Up to and including the month of July, this year there have been almost 3,500 wildlife accidents involving wild boars, compared with roughly 2,100 at the same time last year.

– We will have an all-time high with wildlife accidents, quite simply. And that is a problem, says Anders Broby, wildlife officer at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

He believes that last year’s so-called “boar year” with a good supply of food for the wild boar, a relatively mild winter, and a slightly reduced hunting pressure, could be possible explanations for the increase.

– There does not need to be any dramatic reductions for it to get over a certain limit – if you shoot less than the growth, the population increases. And the wild boar has the potential to set off quickly, he says.

Worried about the children

In October, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency will submit proposals in a government assignment to further encourage hunting of wild boar. In Lerum, the municipality says it is in daily contact with hunting managers, after many calls from concerned people. Daniel Strömberg hopes that the wild boar will stay away in the future:

– It is quite difficult to restore the lawn every other day. And then this with the risk to the children. So it should end immediately, he says.