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A peaceful day on the beaches of the Maro-Cerro Gordo protected natural area on the eastern Costa del Sol was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of two adult female wild boars and three piglets at the weekend. The latest incident involving the appearance of the wild animals in Malaga province in areas frequented by people happened at around 4pm last Saturday, on the Las Alberquillas beach.
According to eye witness Juan Olalla from Nerja, the animals were attracted by the remains of food that some bathers had left on the sand and one of them even stole a bag of crisps.
As SUR has been reporting in the last few months, the presence of wild boar is increasing in the large coastal municipalities of Malaga province - not only in urban centres, but also in more remote and inhospitable areas such as the natural cliffs shared by the municipalities of Nerja and Almuñécar (Granada). The animals come down from the mountains and feed on the leftover food offered to them by bathers and illegal campers in the area.
"It is obvious that they are used to the people living in tents in the area of the nearby pine forests," said Olalla, who is a frequent visitor of Las Alberquillas and other beaches in the area.
"It's the first time I've seen something like this - the animals eating calmly, right next to people, without fearing the presence of dogs, which also surprisingly didn't bark at them," he said. "Luckily, nothing happened and they didn't attack anyone, but they did wake up a woman by getting very close to her face. Imagine the fright she got," said Olalla.
As Olalla explained, the wild boar wandered around throughout the afternoon, but never went into the water, staying comfortably in the shade and eating whatever was thrown at them. They were particularly fond of watermelon rinds.
However, even though they didn't cause any damage, the wild boar were the subject of a debate among the beachgoers. Some people were in favour of feeding them, while others explained that such an approach to wild animals could not lead to anything good. "It's better not to touch them or go near them, but people are very trusting," Olalla said. In one of the videos, it can be seen how a bather touches one of the piglets, while one of the mothers passes right next to a couple, who were caught off-guard.
Experts consulted by SUR have stated that the wild boar should not be fed and that the authorities should be notified of cases like the one on Saturday so that they can remove the specimens from the area. However, none of the bathers who were at Las Alberquillas reported it to the emergency services and the wild boars continued calmly 'enjoying' their day at the beach.
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