To restore the normal picture, 270,000 wild boars must be hunted, while so far only 60,000 have been hunted.
It has just dawned and the hunters in Kilkis have gathered in the village square to climb the mountain together. Divided into five groups of ten people, wearing their orange vests and having taken all the safety measures, they start with a plan on paper the operation to reduce the overpopulation of wild boarswho arrived as they say are as many as the inhabitants of a small village.
The president of the Kilkis Hunting Association, Charalambos Vasiliadisspeaking to the Athenian/Macedonian News Agency, explains that the members of the association voluntarily participate in the operation, following the decision of the Ministry of the Environment and the local forest office regarding the management of the wild boar population, as the situation had reached an impasse recently.
“Farmers are in despair. Dozens of acres of corn, sunflower and peas have been destroyed by the repeated raids of wild boars. The business of reducing them is also done for reasons of road safety. Not long ago, there was an accident with two dead and four injured, including two policemen, on the Kilkis – Doirani provincial road, when a herd of wild boars crossed the road, causing a collision of three cars” notes Mr. Vasiliadis.
The leader of each team takes over a specific sector and the operation lasts five hours. “Wild boars are tracked and tracked with dogs” and as the 40-year-old experienced hunter says, while predation was once a trophy, now it is an imperative situation, which in fact constitutes a pan-European problem.
The plan and the action plan are defined by the forest office. “Since this possibility has been legislated, a nationwide study has been carried out and where there is an overpopulation, corresponding instructions are given so that they are not exterminated indiscriminately”said Forester Kilkis George Vourtsas.
“Areas are defined with coordinates, in which the number of prey to be killed is also defined. In our area specifically, we are instructed to remove up to 97 female wild boars and 224 in total, until the start of the hunting season by September 14» declares the forester.
After killing the wild boars, the Kilkis Veterinary Service takes samples as part of the control prevention program for African plague of pigs. As they say, so far, no problem has been detected in the laboratory tests. The members of the Hunting Association participating in the process have decided that the meat of the wild boars, once found to be suitable, will be made available for social purposes.
550,000-600,000 wild boars in the country
Speaking to APE-MPE, the general secretary of the Panhellenic Confederation of Hunters, Nikolaos Stathopoulos notes that the problem has intensified in the last two years and is causing great concern.
“Through counting and reduction, we have registered nationwide 550 to 600 thousand wild boars throughout the country. In order to restore the normal picture, 270 thousand must be hunted, while so far only 60 thousand have been hunted” stated Mr. Stathopoulos and added that “we are in contact with all our associations where businesses are carried out, some with smaller and others with greater success”.
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