Malaga council considers culling wild boar with tranquiliser darts and euthanasia

Pilar R. Quirós

Malaga

Wednesday, 23 October 2024, 09:52

Malaga city council is considering culling the wild boar population by way of a tranquiliser dart and euthanasia in a bid to control the problems the animals are causing.

Environment councillor Penélope Gómez has met with animal rights associations after they gathered outside the city hall a few days ago protesting the council's decision to use teams of archers to kill wild boar, however there was not as much progress as opposition groups such as the Socialists and Con Malaga would have liked.

The animal rights associations want the Partido Popular run council to completely scrap using archery as a way to kill wild boar, but their motion was not passed. Gómez promised to implement a "pioneering measure" such as firing tranquiliser darts at the boar and then having them euthanised by a vet. They have already sought authorisation from the Junta to be able to do this.

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The first point of the joint motion of both the Socialists and Con Malaga, demanded the Partido Popular "immediately" suspend capturing wild boar with teams of archers. Gómez asked to amend it so it is only done on a temporary basis "until the efficiency of the new method has been checked". This was rejected by the Socialists and Con Malaga, with neither the measure nor other amendments passed.

In response to criticism, the environment councillor gave the example of Mijas town hall, where former mayor, Socialist Josele González, together with Ciudadanos, used teams of archers to kill wild boar.

Representatives of the animal rights associations Miriam Sierra and María de la Ola Aguilar made a plea in favour of wild boar, pointing out they are not aggressive animals and that they never attack if they do not feel threatened. The groups pointed out that shooting the animals in the chest is not effective, as it has to hit the heart, or else they bleed to death whilst in agony. They also pointed out that this was the reason why killing wild boar with archery was banned in the UK and Germany. "It is inhumane and causes unconscionable pain," Aguilar said, adding that as wild boars and feral pigs are matriarchal, when one mother in the herd is killed, the rest of the females will reproduce. Regarding the tranquiliser dart and euthanasia, Gómez said it should always be done with veterinary control and with "measure".

Socialist councillor Begoña Medina thanked the animal associations for their protests, as did the vice-spokesperson for Con Malaga, Nicolás Sguiglia, and called for an immediate halt to the archery measure, while questioning the extent of the wild boar issue in Malaga city as there are no statistics. Sguiglia said that if it weren't for the animal rights associations, Malaga City Council would have continued with the archery measure without trialling a new one.

The animal rights associations want the young females to be sterilised, however the environment councillor said that, after visiting a veterinary faculty in Barcelona, they found there is no reliable evidence this method works, as the vaccine that makes it possible is temporary and only acts on females between three and six months old, so "the effectiveness would only be 2%".

Gómez said wild boar pose a problem of spreading zoonosis, diseases transmitted by faeces such as Hepatitis C. "A frightened wild boar can attack with fatal results," Vox deputy spokesperson Yolanda Gómez said. She also said Vox is not in favour of unnecessary suffering when hunting them, but that it is the responsibility of the town hall to ensure the safety of its residents. "Archery is barbaric because there is no probability of death," she added.

The Vox councillor called for there to be hunting in the Churriana game reserve and for wild boar to be hunted. "This is the main way to reduce their population in their natural habitat," Gómez said.

The environment councillor said the city hall had already placed three drinking troughs in Ciudad Jardín, Arroyo Toquero and Churriana and that they were going to place another two, one in Pinares de San Antón. "If the current method [narcotic darts] does not work, we will have to go back to the other method [archery]," she said.