Police given shoot to kill order as Genoa goes to the hogs

THE Italian city of Genoa is so overrun with wild boars that the authorities have given permission for them to be shot.

Herds have long snuffled around the outskirts of the port in northern Italy, but now they are venturing into the city itself.

The task of shooting the wild pigs will be entrusted to specialist police officers.

“We don’t want to turn Genoa into the Wild West,” said Matteo Campora, the council official in charge of environmental affairs.

“There will be cases where we’ll be able to relocate the boars, and others where shooting them would present a danger to residents.”

Since the start of this year, local people have 470 reported sightings of boar in Genoa. They have been spotted rooting around parks and gardens, residential areas, a university campus and even an urban train station.

Large boars have been observed shoving wheelie bins with their snouts in an apparent attempt to tip them over.

They also cause traffic accidents – in the last few days three motorcyclists have ended up in hospital after colliding with the beasts, which can weigh more than 200lbs.

Anyone found feeding the creatures will be fined €50 (£46).

Boar populations are on the increase in Italy, partly as a result of farmland being abandoned and recolonised by scrub and woodland. There are at least a million wild pigs roaming the Italian countryside, authorities estimate – up from 600,000 a decade ago.

They have no natural predators apart from wolves, which are making a comeback in Italy, but not in sufficient numbers to put a dent in the boar population.