2023-09-11 14:29:00
“Remarkable!”: a herd of wild boars strolling along avenue de Tervueren in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre
“Our concern is to have wildlife that settles and develops strongly”
According to him, these wild boars probably belong to the horde installed in the Tervuren Arboretum and its surroundings. A population is also present once more in the Sonian Forest following having disappeared in 1917. “On the Brussels part of the massif, the first observations of the return of this species date from December 2006. Very sporadically, wild boars were observed there. is a population that is very mobile.” The latest figures date from 2007, when the forest had between 15 and 30 individuals. Currently, the Region no longer has quantified data on this population. “We are collecting information on the place where they are observed, but the wild boar is not established in the Brussels region. Our concern, currently, is to have fauna which settles and develops strongly, greatly and quickly, but we have not yet observed this. That said, for several months already, we have noticed more frequent presences and observations in places where we did not have it in the past.”
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For the head of the Forest & Nature sub-division of the IBGE, this can be explained by several things, but the main reason is undoubtedly the strong growth in the wild boar population worldwide, both in Europe and in other countries. like Japan, where it is present for example. “It is linked to climate change, with an environment becoming more hospitable, which allows for an increase in populations. Climate change allows us to have more forest fruits, such as acorns and beechnuts (beech fruits, Editor’s note) , and therefore to increase food resources, but also to have more litters in the same year.”
“The challenge will be to keep this population at a reasonable level to limit the damage”
Faced with this impressive growth in the number of wild boars in green spaces around the capital, the challenge will be, according to Stéphane Vanwijnsberghe, to “keep this population at a reasonable level to limit damage to public and private properties, as well as accidents on highways.” Despite the risks of destruction caused by wild boars, their presence can have great advantages. “It is an animal which has a beneficial effect for the forest by being dynamic for the ecosystem, as long as the population is not too large. From a certain threshold, a population that is too high can have a damaging effect for the environment, hence the need to control and control it to an acceptable and sustainable level for the environment.” For Stéphane Vanwijnsberghe, the return of the wild boar to the edge of the city, or even in certain cases within the city, contributes to what he calls the “rewilding” of our urban spaces, which has been fashionable for some time.
France: two Belgian tourists spend the night in a tree to escape a wild boar
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