The Galician Farmers' Union-Farmers' Commissions (SLG-CCLL) has warned this Monday of a resurgence in wild boar attacks in the Lugo region of Os Ancares and has called on the Ministry of the Environment for "clear protocols and monitoring" regarding the sanitary situation of this species.
The agricultural organization points to a "considerable increase" in damage to pastures and crops in the municipalities of Becerreá, As Nogais, Pedrafita do Cebreiro, Baralla, Navia de Suarna, Cervantes, and Folgoso do Courel, where farmers claim that incursions by these animals are becoming increasingly frequent.
According to the union, this problem is related to "an unprecedented increase in the number of wild boars which, combined with the loss of Usable Agricultural Area (SAU), means that the remaining farms in the territory suffer more attacks on their pastures every day, with the economic losses this causes."
The SLG emphasizes that "concern among local farmers is growing due to the increase in attacks, not only because of the economic losses they entail, but because this wild fauna coexists daily with cattle, and there is fear that they may be vectors for transmitting new or existing diseases to cattle."
Given this situation, the union demands in a press release that the allocation for preventive measures be increased, with special attention to fencing, and that wild boar attacks be specifically considered, with the aim not only of reducing damage to pastures, "but also of preventing domestic livestock and wild fauna from interacting."
Finally, the SLG recalls the need to also address the coexistence between wild boars and extensive pig farms, often of Celtic pigs, "farms that need to be taken into account when providing aid for attack prevention and, above all, to consider the sanitary status of wild fauna to avoid contagion in these farms."