In southern Denmark, a wild boar has been spotted once more, just months after the country succeeded in eradicating the last approximately 150 wild pigs. The young animal was recorded twice on a wildlife camera south of the Aabenraa Fjord, only five kilometers north of the Danish-German border.
Earlier this year, in the fight against African Swine Fever, Danish authorities established an active wildlife management plan to protect the extensive Danish meat industry. This plan included shooting all wild boars.
The animal has not been seen in the past three weeks, “so we don’t know if it is still in Denmark,” officials say. “It is likely a young boar that is roaming,” explains consultant Klaus Sloth from the Danish Nature Agency.
He is convinced this is a new wild boar, as it does not resemble the animals the Nature Agency has previously seen on the wildlife cameras. These cameras are placed at 70 feeding sites in Danish forests.
Sloth suspects that the wild boar swam across the Flensburg Fjord, which is about one kilometer wide at its narrowest point. The animal may also have passed the wild boar fence along the German border, which has about 20 gaps at road crossings that serve as natural openings.
It cannot be ruled out that a small number of wild boars will continue to cross the Danish border. “Since 2003, we have observed wild boars entering Denmark in spring and summer. In autumn, they return to Germany.”