Wild boars muscle in on Riviera beaches
Bathers warned to beware as animals, desperate for food and water, become a menace on the sea front
MARSEILLE has long been notorious for crime, corruption and gangland violence, but the Mediterranean city’s beaches now face a new danger from wild boar.
A long dry spell has left the potentially dangerous animals desperate for food and water. They are increasingly being encountered on beaches where they snuffle around bathers’ bags in search of food. Officials warn that they may be prepared to venture closer to people than is considered safe.
Holidaymakers exploring Marseille’s fabled “calanques” – fjord-like coastal inlets that offer some of the city’s prettiest and most secluded beaches – are being warned not to approach or feed the animals. Local residents have been asked to limit the use of garden sprinklers to avoid attracting them.
“Boars are searching for water wherever they can find it, which means in the city and suburban areas,” said Alain Vincent, an official of the Calanques National Park.
“You must not go near boars. You can scare them away by making noise. If a boar comes closer than three metres, you must immediately alert the National Park and we’ll take the necessary action because a boar can be dangerous.”
Mr Vincent urged householders to make sure bins are properly secured and cleared of edible waste.
The large wild pigs generally shy away from close contact with people, but in the current hot, dry weather, Mr Vincent told Europe 1 radio that they may exhibit “abnormal behaviour”. When challenged or enraged, the tough, omnivorous beasts are prone to charge at speeds of up to 30mph. They can weigh up to 25 stone and their tusks are razor-sharp.
Wild boar are hunted in many parts of France, where their meat is prized. Its boar population, now estimated at more than two million, has risen sharply in recent years. Efforts to curb boar numbers have failed so far despite culls to try to prevent them from laying to waste crops and farmland.
Hunters kill about half a million boars a year in France, but the population quickly replaces itself. Boar hunting, previously seasonal, is now permitted all year round in much of eastern France and calls are increasing for restrictions to be lifted across the country.
Christian Yverneau, a farmer in Aisne, northern France, said boars were ravaging his crops on an unprecedented scale and he had been forced to stop growing maize. “It’s a catastrophe,” he said. “Before it was just corn but now they’re going for the lot, even beets and potatoes. There must be hundreds of them here to do this.”
But experts say just two or three boar can lay waste to a whole field in a single night.