The proliferation of wild boars in urban areas, a question of adaptation of an “invasive species”

Present in all departments of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, wild boars are constantly growing in number. A phenomenon that is accompanied by an urbanization of this species: in other words, the wild boar invites itself into our cities. A demographic transition explained by Jean-Michel Gaillard, research director at the CNRS: “The wild boar has a totally different demographic functioning from other animals of comparable size. A sow produces an average of five young per year, while a doe only produces two at best. There is therefore a marked difference in colonizing power in favor of the wild boar. »

An animal that adapts to constraints

For Jean-Michel Gaillard, who has studied and analyzed the data available on wild boar at the Laboratory of Biometrics and Evolutionary Biology in Lyon, it has an excellent “capacity to respond to environmental constraints”. Despite climate change, this omnivorous mammal can “varie its diet”. This forest species, which feeds mainly on acorns and other forest fruits, even has an advantage. As temperatures rise in April, the amount of pollen increases, and the oaks and beeches produce more acorns. A perfect situation for wild boars to breed successfully.

However, if they run out of food, they will not hesitate to seek it elsewhere. “Boars have significant cognitive abilities, and they end up learning that entering a city park is not that dangerous,” explains Jean-Michel Gaillard. They adapt and colonize these places quite easily. »

But they are also able to respond to other constraints, such as hunting. According to the OFB (French Office for Biodiversity), 95% of wild boars do not exceed 3 years. As a result, “the boar responds by reproducing earlier and increasing the size of its litters”, develops Jean-Michel Gaillard. They can then “reproduce from 1 year”.

Find solutions

Fighting against the proliferation of wild boars is not easy. Hunting could be a solution. But if the legislation does not impose a quota, unlike roe deer and stags, the hunters, themselves, impose themselves: “They want to hunt a lot of wild boar, but they want to be sure of being able to hunt more in the future. “says Jean-Michel Gaillard.

According to him, if the number of wild boars decreases thanks to hunting, the problem will be easier to solve. Starting from the same reproduction rate, a group of wild boars will develop less rapidly than another if there are fewer of them.

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