Wild boar boost during France’s ‘confinement’

France’s wild boar population has boomed since the country entered ‘confinement’ due to COVID-19 as hunters are forced to remain at home. Wild boar numbers have risen rapidly over the past five years as climate change has boosted breeding success. The Occitanie region in the south of the country is the heartland of French boar hunting, particularly the Hautes-pyrénées, Gers and Gard departments.

Farmer Lionel Candelon told local news source France 3: “I used to kill on average one boar per year. Last year I killed 17. We kill between 9,000 to 11,000 every year in this department. We must absolutely increase hunting pressure.”

While lack of hunting has been identified as one of the factors leading to the boom, boar have also benefited from fewer collisions with vehicles due to the reduction in train and car journeys.

The steep increase in the numbers may not be good news for hunters. In France hunters’ associations can be forced to compensate farmers whose crops are damaged by boar. In 2019 they were forced to pay out ¤60million (about £53m).

Booming: wild boar populations are increasing due to the lockdown