Residents of Waalre are worried about a group of wild boar who pulls through the village when it gets dark. The animals root in gardens and walk on the main roads. Residents provide problems: “Think of road safety, but also the safety of children and dogs,” says one of them.
De Wilde Zwijnen regularly walk through the Ekenrooi district in the municipality of Waalre. The neighborhood is on the edge of a forest, but the pigs can also be seen more and more often in parts of the neighborhood further away from the forest. “They root in gardens,” says Rogier, who lives in the middle of the neighborhood. “But I am mainly worried about the children who cycle here.” Videos show that it is a large group. “I’m afraid it will go wrong.”
Forester Frans Kapteins understands the worries, but can reassure the people in Waalre. “Yes, they can cause some nuisance, but they are usually not dangerous. If they have young people, the males can sometimes be tough, but the chance is greater that they flee for people.”
Frans also understands that it is surprising when you cycle through the neighborhood in the evening and see a procession of boar passing by. In the village the question arises as to the pigs. Rogier called the municipality, but he said he could not do much. “It has been arranged that they are not allowed to be there, but they are there and nobody does anything,” says Rogier frustrated.
These images show how the relatively large group of boar passes through Ekenrooi.
That Rogier from Waalre thinks that the pigs should not occur in the province is correct. In Brabant a so -called zero position applies to pigs. That means that there are no official pigs in the wild in the province. In practice, that is not feasible, says a spokesperson for the Fauna Management Unit Brabant (FBE).
The zero position policy has been created to protect pig farmers from the African swine fever. The zero position does not necessarily mean that each individual animal must disappear, but that the population does not have to be protected. “But where the pigs do not pose a direct danger to the health of pigs or damage to farmers’ crop, they are often not immediately shot or driven away,” is the experience of the province of Noord-Brabant.
According to a spokesperson for the fauna management unit, parties involved in managing the wild boar are aware of the situation in Waalre. They would be busy with ‘additional agreements, within the frameworks, to bring the situation under control’.
How do the pigs end up in Brabant? According to forester Kapteins, that is difficult to prevent. “They are active at night and can cross unseen, for example from Belgium. There are also known cases of people who expand boars illegally. That is punishable, but difficult to detect.”
How many pigs are in our province is unknown. “The animals are difficult to count,” says the provincial spokesperson. “Especially because they are active at night.”
Deputy Hagar Roijackers of Nature, Environment and Approach Rural Area is waiting for a new advice from the Noord-Brabant Fauna Management Unit. That is expected before the summer. Provincial policy can be adjusted based on this. “Possibly the zero position will be under discussion,” said the province.
What can you do when you see boar in your residential area?
If you come across wild boar in your residential area, keep a distance, says a spokesperson for the FBE. Also keep your dog on a leash as much as possible.
“Residents should absolutely not feed the wild boar or water and protect waste,” warns the spokesperson.