In recent years, damage linked to wild boars has been numerous in Brittany, especially in crops, meadows and sometimes even gardens. These wild animals are today considered pests. In Brittany, 20,000 wild boars were killed last year, but this is not enough to contain the damage. So the whole question is how hunters can regulate their population.
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If at the beginning of the 1970s, it was rarely seen in Brittany. Lately, he's been talked about a lot. In 50 years its population has multiplied by 20 in France. From being a fascinating wild animal, it has now become a harmful species due to the damage it causes. So, how to regulate wild boar?
In the Corbière forest near Rennes, around forty guns met to hunt wild boar. Hunting, which remains the main lever for regulating wild boar populations, due to the disappearance of its natural predators: the wolf and the lynx.
And, say hunters, the animal is not easy prey: “He knows how to take refuge where there are houses, for example. He knows that he will be peaceful. He knows areas of refuge where he knows that he will not be disturbed, on the side of the 4 lanes for example “explains Marcel Pincet, hunter. “The wild boar, you have to be reactive when you are in the presence of these animals because it is a nomad. Today it is there, tomorrow it can be 2 or 3 kilometers away”adds André Douard, president of the Brittany Regional Federation.
Wild boars that are no longer limited to chestnuts and acorns. From now on, they attack crops, especially corn, in grain or on the ground, and the first victims are the farmers: “Today, we have declared 1.5 hectares of corn damage on a plot of land which is 2.7 hectares. That is to say, it affects our income. These are deadweight losses.”testifies Joël Lejas, farmer in Châteaubourg.
Farmers among whom discontent is mounting. For example, in all the municipalities of Finistère, the trapping of wild boars has just been authorized by the prefect, to combat their proliferation and road accidents.
On the hunters' side, the equation is not simple either. For them, it is above all a hobby and a sport, not a profession and they pay to practice it: “It's still a cost to kill a wild boar because it's a bracelet that costs 40 euros, so for each wild boar taken, we pay 40 euros to the Federation to pay for the farmers' famous damage”explains Thierry Gilbert, hunter and blood dog driver.
In Ille-et-Vilaine, these compensations to farmers have increased from 70,000 euros 20 years ago to 800,000 euros today. Enough to worry the federation which would like to harmonize hunting practices to be more effective. “Here, we are on territories that are both private and communal and which belong to a community. So, if everyone exerts regular pressure on the animal, hunts it regularly, it will disturb the animals. The other solution is would be from time to time for everyone to hunt at the same time, on the same day, on the same territory. This would allow a larger harvest.concludes André Douard, president of the Brittany Regional Federation.
Climate favorable to its reproduction, well-stocked pantry, shelters or approximate counting, Brittany brings together all the conditions favorable to the rapid reproduction of the wild boar. But in recent times, cohabitation between wild and human seems more and more difficult and its regulation essential for many. But the solution does not seem to be within reach.
(With Gilles Raoult)
