Valencia: wild boar wanders into metro tunnel, holding up rail services for three hours

An unusual passenger surprised Metrovalencia users this Thursday morning. A wild boar was the main source of concern for train drivers and passengers alike on lines 1, 2 and 4 of the network from early morning until just before noon. It also kept around 20 police and security staff on their toes as they monitored its movements.

The animal trotted through several stations in the north of the city, including Campanar, Empalme and Beniferri. It even entered a tunnel, causing train traffic disruptions and delays. Almost three hours after the sighting was registered, an officer from the environmental unit for the regional police shot the animal several times to prevent it from attacking anybody or causing a traffic incident.

Before reaching the decision to open fire, around 20 police officers from Valencia and Burjassot, along with two veterinarians from the regional environment ministry, attempted to capture the animal using a net, a .22-calibre rifle and a tranquiliser dart-gun. These darts inject the sedative on impact, using pressurised air or internal firing pins, and can be used at distances of up to 60 metres.

When these attempts failed, around ten shots were fired, most from the pistol belonging to a regional police officer, leaving the animal dead beside the tracks. Shortly before, it had charged at the officers who were surrounding it as they tried to net it.

Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV, Valencia's rail authority) was notified around 9:00am of a wild boar near the railway tracks in the northern part of Valencia and the commercial area of Burjassot. After the alarm was raised, a dozen patrols - four from Valencia's regional police and the rest from the National Police and Local Police of Burjassot and Valencia - were swiftly dispatched to the scene.

Two vets from the hunting and fishing service (part of the regional environment ministry) and several experts from Vaersa (a local company of environmental and wildlife specialists) also participated in the capture operation. They went equipped with a rifle, a tranquiliser gun and a net.

After cornering the wild boar near Empalme station, one of the officers shot it dead at around 11:30am inside the tunnel, the safest place to minimise risk to officers and Vaersa staff.

According to emergency services sources, the animal had been injured after being struck by two trains at different times while running along the tracks. This increased its aggression and the risk of it attacking someone. The final decision to shoot it dead took into consideration the importance of passenger safety and that of the police officers and others involved in trapping the animal, as well as the risk of the wild boar causing a traffic accident when near to roads with moving traffic.

Since the beginning of the Generalitat's term in office, the regional government of Valencia has been working intensively on various measures to combat the overpopulation of wild boar in the Valencia region. In fact, last week Valencia's regional parliament (Les Corts) ratified the decree activating a series of urgent measures to reduce the wild boar population as part of the wider body of actions to combat African swine fever.

Among these initiatives, the installation of trap boxes stands out, following a phase of camera-trapping already underway. One of the areas where action will be taken is in the l'Horta area, specifically in Burjassot.