Boar bonanza over as 5,000 are culled on Veluwe, with more to go

A family of wild boars at rest.
Young wild boar at rest

A record number of wild boar have been shot in the Veluwe heathland area in the last three months in an effort to control numbers, broadcaster NOS reported at the weekend.

In total 5,000 of the estimated 10,000 boar in the region have been killed but some experts suggest 1,350 is the maximum number the area can sustain.

The boar population nearly doubled from 4,800 in 2019 to 10,000 this summer – there was no count in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last year, prolonged spells of dry weather followed by abundant rain produced a bigger crop of acorns than in previous years and as a result the boar population exploded.

This year, however, there is a lack of food, and many animals are likely to starve, further bringing numbers down.

‘Anything that falls off the trees is being eaten immediately,’ Eril Koffeman of wildlife management organisation Faunabeheer Gelderland told NOS.

Koffeman said that this year’s goal, to cull some 8,800 Veluwe boar may become reality by the end of the season on February 1, aided by the lack of food and the presence of wolves.

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