130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

3.9. Wild boar
Sus scrofa
Summary
The Wild boar has experienced a large increase
in abundance and distribution since the mid-20 th
century, which can be attributed to a variety
of factors, including deliberate and accidental
reintroductions, favourable environmental
conditions, hunting control, lack of management,
improved food availability and land abandonment.
It is now widespread and abundant across Europe
and faces no major threats. As a resilient and
adaptable species, further growth is expected, with
climate change and land abandonment probably
playing an increasingly beneficial role. Future
management will to a large part have to focus on
the mitigation of problems associated with greater
abundance of this ungulate.
Background
General description of the species
The Wild boar, also known as the Eurasian wild
pig, is present in its wild or feral form in every
continent except Antarctica, in a range that has
been greatly expanded by humans [1] . A large
number of subspecies has been proposed based
on significant levels of naturally occurring
geographic and genetic variation, which has
been compounded by widespread anthropogenic
releases, but there is still some debate about the
precise number [2] . The species is highly sexually
dimorphic, and there are size differences between
genders and regions, with males and animals in
temperate zones being larger [2] . The Wild boar lives
in maternal families of around 20 individuals,
although adult males tend to be solitary outside
the breeding season [2] . In Europe, litters of 5–9
are generally born in spring after 112–130 days of
gestation, and young reach sexual maturity at
18 months [2] . Wild boar can live up to 20 years in
the wild, although younger animals tend to be
more common in populations [2] . Activity levels
vary between regions, but are usually highest
around dawn and dusk except in areas with high
hunting pressure, where exclusively nocturnal
activity is common [2] . As an omnivore, the boar
eats almost anything from grass, nuts, berries
and roots to invertebrates and small reptiles [2] ,
and also frequently damages agricultural crops [2] .
Predators include Grey wolf (Canis lupus) and
Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) [2] .
Distribution in Europe
Molecular analysis suggests that the Wild
boar originated from islands in southeast
Asia (Phillippines, Indonesia) from where it
dispersed across Eurasia [3] . The species was
widely distributed throughout Europe during
the early and mid-Holocene [4] , with domestic
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