Wild boar roadkill on increase

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Drivers are advised to take extra caution while driving on rural roads at night as a growing number of wild boars have been crossing the roads in the darkness.

Wildlife experts say that in order to prevent vehicles from colliding with the boars and other wild animals, more ecological paths should be built to provide safe passage for them and more wired-fences need to be set up along the motorways.

At 1:05 a.m. on Friday, a wild boar ran into the expressway connecting Busan and Ulsan and collided with a one-ton truck. Some 20 minutes later, another boar crashed into another passenger car and the car drove into a truck parking on the shoulder of the road.

Both accidents injured the two drivers and killed the 60-kilogram boars.

An ecological corridor with a bridge and fences has been installed near the scene of the accident, but they did not prevent the wild boar from running into the expressway.

In October there were six wild pig appearances, including the Friday’s accident. On Oct. 2, a wild boar broke into a convenience store in Busan and was shot to death.

The wild boar population in Korea is on the decline since the late 1990s. The National Institute of Biological Resources statistics show that the average population density of wild boars dropped from 5.1 per 100 hectares to 3.9 in 2003, and remains the same now. Though the absolute number is decreasing, the boar’s habitat is gradually being damaged for various reasons, causing them to clash with human beings more often.

According to the Ministry of Environment and the Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC), some 130 natural treasures and endangered species became roadkill.

The most were wild cats, with 74 of them found dead on roads from 2008 to 2009. Other animals killed from being hit by cars were 14 kestrels, 13 scops owls, 9 collared scops owls and three otters.

The total number of animals that have been struck and killed by motor vehicles in the last 10 years reached 19,156.

However, there are only 41 eco-corridors on the highways throughout the nation.

A KEC official said they have installed eco-bridges to protect the wild animals, but some hungry ones slip past the fence and they cannot prevent such cases entirely.

Experts suggest monitoring and locating the domestic habitats and routes of wildlife precisely before building an eco-corridor is important.

“As we expect a shortage of wild feed this winter, it might lead to more wild animals, especially pigs, appearing on roads or in towns. In addition to eco-corridors and bridges, stronger fences are needed separating the road and nature to stop animals from rushing into oncoming traffic,” an official of the Korean Society for Protection of Wild Animals said.

고속도로상에 야생돼지 사망 늘어

야간에 지방도로를 운행하는 운전자는 어둠속에서 도로를 가로 지르는 야생 돼지의 숫자가 증가하고 있어 각별히 조심해야 한다.

야생 전문가들은 차량이 이런 야생 동물과 충돌하는 것을 방지하기 위해서는 이들 야생동물이 안전하게 지나갈 수 있도록 좀 더 많은 생태계적인 도로가 설치 되어야 하며 도로들을 따라 더 많은 철조망 펜스가 있어야 한다고 지적했다.

금요일 새벽 1시 05분 한 야생돼지가 부산-울산간 고속도로에 뚸어들어 1톤 트럭과 부딪힌다. 약 20분 후 또 다른 야생돼지가 승용차에 부딪히고 승용차는 갓길에 주차하고 있는 트럭으로 돌진한다.

두 사고로 인해 2명의 운전자가 부상하고 60kg에 달하는 두마리 야생돼지가 죽었다.

다리와 펜스를 갖춘 생태계적인 통로가 사고 현장 부근에 설치되어 있지만 이 톨로가 야생돼지가 고속도로로 뛰어드는 것을 방지 하지는 못했다.