A group of at least fifteen wild boars crossed Heeze on Sunday. Residents of the Nieuwe Hoeven district made videos of the animals en masse. Cute, but also annoying. A cyclist did not dare to continue on the cycle path and someone saw the pigs parading through the front garden. The animals cause a slight panic among the residents and that is why the city council is asking for action. But that’s not so easy.
The group of at least fifteen pigs has not shown itself in the village for the first time. A week earlier, there were also reports that the animals were walking around in built-up areas.
Passers-by took pictures of the last visit, safely from the car. But not everyone followed the trip with confidence. A cyclist informed the local news site Heeze-Leende24 that he no longer dared to continue on the cycle path after an encounter with the animals.
“Walk past scouting and daycare.”
Local politicians react strongly to the visit of the wild boars to the village centre. “Because the pigs are now also entering the neighbourhood, it is more than urgent time for action to ensure safety! They are already visiting the scouting, a daycare center and people in the gardens. And what about cyclists? You will encounter them,” says Inge Maas of the CDA.
Harrie Scheepers of Algemeen Belang Heeze-Leende (ABHL) also believes that action must be taken. “As a municipality, we must continue to put pressure on the province to ensure that they do not enter inhabited areas. If it is necessary to hold a drive hunt, we must do so.”
Frans Maas of the Party for Old and Young (PvOJ) once again emphasizes the danger to traffic. “Road safety is under threat. They do not belong in a residential area where there are also two schools.”
“We can’t shoot them.”
Nevertheless, according to Jan van den Kerkhof, coordinator of the Wild Management Unit (WBE), it is difficult to intervene against wild boars as long as they are in inhabited areas. “We as hunters can’t do anything there. We are not allowed to shoot in built-up areas and we are not allowed to set up catch cages because we are not allowed to transport the pigs alive.”
With more complicated measures, the animals can be chased out of the village center, thinks Van den Kerkhof. “What you can do is put up a fence, but that requires quite a bit.”
In 2022, about 180 boars were shot, while in 2021 there were still 330. Van den Kerkhof: “The difference lies in last autumn, when there were a lot of acorns and beechnuts. As a result, the pigs were not so eager for the groundbait that is used for hunting.”
View the images that villagers made of the group of wild boars here: