Wild boar attacks increasing in city
A wild boar is transported after being caught in a residential area in Seoul in this file photo. The Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters said they received an average of 29.4 calls per month about wild boar appearances this year. / Yonhap
By Jhoo Dong-chan
A growing number of wild boars are coming to urban areas in search of food, terrifying residents there.
They often attack people, and one man was killed recently.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters, Thursday, they received an average of 29.4 calls per month about wild boar appearances in residential areas from January to November.
The figure is almost double last year’s 15.4 per month; and has kept rising from 3.6 in 2011, 4.7 in 2012 and 11.3 in 2013.
Since 2010, more than half of the boar attacks took place between September and December. While they usually appeared on hiking trails, nearly half of the animals were seen on roads or in residential areas.
Jongno District had the largest number of boar cases, followed by Eunpyeong and Seongbuk districts.
Experts say the animals come to the urban areas from forests as they do not have enough to eat.
“As more municipalities build hiking trails on mountains, the area of the boars’ habitat is decreasing,” a city official said. “Also, hikers and residents gather acorns, and this means the animals don’t have enough to eat.”
Zoologist Park Byung-kwon said that wild boar attacks increase during the winter.
“December through January is the mating season for boars. Wild animals tend to become highly strung and aggressive during their mating periods,” Park said.
“Plus, wild boars have now become the apex predator in the country’s food chain. There used to be more ferocious predators, such as bears, tigers and wolves, in Korea, but now those animals are not around anymore, and sensing that, the boars act more aggressively and fearlessly.”
In Samcheok, Gangwon Province, six wild boars attacked two residents who were gathering medicinal herbs on a nearby mountain Tuesday, according to Samcheok Police Station.
Cut badly in the thigh, one of victims died at the scene from severe bleeding while another suffered only minor injuries.
“I have lived in the area since I was born 70 years ago. But I have never heard of anything like this,” Kim In-Seon, a resident, said.
“This is the first case in a long time that wild boars have attacked residents in a group. People in the area, including myself, have decided not to climb the nearby mountain, especially at night.”
According to the Gangwon Regional Fire Department, it received 83 reports of wild boar appearances in the province this year, nearly triple last year’s 31.
Zoologist Park recommends not turning around and running when encountering wild boars.
“Boars are extremely dangerous when chasing other animals. A boar can run as fast as 50 kilometers per hours,” he said.
“Considering its speed, running in zigzag is also not very helpful. Try to find something that stands higher than 150 centimeters, such as a tree or a rock, because boars have very bad vertical vision.”