A group of wild boars has surrounded a woman in the parking lot of a supermarket in Le Rughe, an Italian municipality close to Rome. The group, consisting of four adult pigs and two young, chased the woman, who dropped her groceries. Soon after, the boars began to feast on the food the woman had just bought.
Free-roaming wild boars have long been a matter of debate in the Rome region. Last October, an investigation came at the request of Mayor Virginia Raggi. For example, a family of wild boars is said to have been shot by the police in a children’s playground near the Vatican. The event sparked protests by residents and animal rights activists.
Some Italian farmers have also complained in recent years about how the wild boars damage their crops and how they often cause serious road accidents. The animals are said to be the cause of 10,000 annual accidents in the country. In some cases, it even involved fatal accidents.
Army versus wild boars
The largest Italian farmers’ association Coldiretti is asking the Italian authorities to intervene. “We have to act as quickly as possible and even call up the army if necessary,” he says.
In total, about 2 million wild boars are said to roam in Italy. In many Italian regions, such as Tuscany and Umbria, the meat of the animals is a delicacy.
