
Threat to kill wild boar that stole nude bather's laptop prompts outcry - vijayr02
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/17/threat-to-kill-wild-boar-that-stole-nude-bathers-laptop-prompts-outcry-berlin
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berkes
I live in a nature reserve next to a medium large western European town. There
are "wild" horses and "wild" cows there. Wild, in quotes because they are
managed and monitored. I sometimes help as volunteer; e.g. when they are
severely wounded, or sick, they'll be slaughtered. Otherwise the're left
alone.

There are beaches here, where the horses love to come (esp. when it's hot);
and where in summer thousands of citizens have parties, BBQs, Picnicks,
familidays and whatnots.

Each year, some horses get cocky and steal food. Wild (untrained) horses are
dangerous when they've overcome their fear for humans, they will damage cars,
bikes, etc. and sometimes theyu will hurt humans or dogs (which technically
aren't allowed to roam unleashed there, but we all know how it is when you
take a dog for a day swimming...)

The solution is as simple as it is elegant: they move the horses to another
area. As far as the other side of Europe in some cases, or simply a few KM
away - across some fences. No need to kill them. And apparently, after some
years, they either die, or forgot about humans enough that their instinctive
fear for humans return enough not to attack humans and take their lunch.

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imgabe
I live in Hong Kong where there are wild boar living in the jungle right next
to the city. Several people have been killed or injured by them when they
wander into populated areas and get lost / confused, or just in general when
people encounter them on the hiking paths and think they can mess with them.

Yes, it's funny that it stole the naked man's laptop, but they're not a joke.
They are dangerous wild animals.

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seba_dos1
Of course. But this doesn't mean the human stupidity and irresponsibility is a
reason to kill them. If anything, it's actually the human who should know
better.

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mytailorisrich
In several European countries the population of wild boars exploded in recent
years.

I've just read an article about France. Apparently 46,000 wild boars were
hunted in 1973 and that rose to 780k in 2018 in an attempt to control numbers,
with a population in the millions.

Wild boars cause damage to agriculture but, as this story shows, these days
they also come very close to people and often forage in people's trash bins,
etc.

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jcims
Wild boar tend to quickly dominate and devour an ecosystem. Not sure how
stable the population is there, but many times you have to intervene in order
to protect the balance of the flora and fauna.

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Someone
I think most interventions are ‘necessary’ because of other stuff humans did
to the ecosystem (‘necessary’ in quotes because, without hunting, nature would
find an equilibrium, too, just not one we want to see)

It’s not as of, when you dig anywhere, all you find is remains of wild boar,
and that only ended when humans started intervening.

(And for those who don’t know: this species is native to Germany)

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jcims
Totally agree on all counts, particularly in that humans have eliminated
nearly all large predators from populated areas.

Doesn't change the fact that hogs will shred an environment, drive ground-
nesting birds out of the environment completely, etc. etc. We could bring back
large wild cats and wolves or just relocate/shoot them.

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maps7
Prompts outcry from people who will have chicken or beef for dinner that
night, presumably.

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Dylan16807
Is the implication that they're fools for... considering multiple cases and
scenarios and _not_ having a strict mandate to kill all animals in all
situations or save all animals in all situations?

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CharlesMerriam2
Could we stop posting headlines from Markov generators?

"Go home 2020. You're drunk." \-- r.t.

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lxe
Hacker News after dark. Brilliant stuff.

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vijayr02
I know there is a serious element to the conversation as well, but I found
this part really funny :)

>“They phlegmatically forage in broad daylight over the grass looking for food
wherever there are bathers. They have lost all sense of shyness.”

This is in a nudist park...

