Brittany steps up fight against rising numbers of wild boar
Global warming is enabling the boar to proliferate which brings higher risks to roads, trains, farms, and private residents
Wild boar are becoming a more common sight in France as milder winters help more of their young to survive
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Authorities in Brittany are working with hunters in a bid to take action against wild boar, whose increased numbers are at risk of causing major road and travel accidents, and damage to fields and gardens.
There are now between 1.5 million and 2 million wild boar in France, four times the number seen 20 years ago. This spread is due in part to global warming and milder winters, as these favour the survival of young boar, reports Le Télégramme.
In Brittany in particular authorities and hunters are working to increase the number of hunts designed specifically to pare down numbers. These are scheduled to take place in communes including Carnac, La Trinité-sur-Mer, Larmor-Plage, Paimpol, Tonquédec, Lennon, and Saint-Goazec.
In Finistère, hunters are aiming to ‘take’ more than 5,000 wild boar in 2025, more than double the aim of 2,000 in 2021.
Read also: Why are there more boar in France in 2024 - and will it continue?
Road and train accidents
It comes after a crash between a wild boar and a car caused serious delays on the RN165 near Auray, on Friday, October 25. Two days earlier, in Plédéliac, a car ended up in the ditch after the driver swerved to avoid a wild boar. On October 10, in Clohars-Carnoët, a motorcyclist collided with a wild boar.
Road vehicles are not the only ones at risk. On September 30, a TGV high-speed train collided with around 10 wild boar, disrupting rail traffic for several hours.
In Brittany, these accidents have so far not caused human deaths or major injury, but in Bordeaux, two young adults aged 18 and 19 were killed in a road accident suspected of being caused by a wild boar. The accident is still under investigation.
Farming devastation and compensation
Farmers are also keen to control boar numbers, as they frequently cause devastation to maize fields and other crops.
Residents in local towns and cities can also fall victim, with wild boar often the cause of damaged sports fields, private gardens and ravaged waste bins.
Read also: How to keep boars off land in France: natural ways or electric fence?
Read also: Why are wild boars now a common sight in French towns?
Farming damage is covered by the departmental hunting federations but local residents typically do not benefit from this kind of protection.
Read also: What to do if you come across a boar while out walking in France?
However even hunting federations can struggle due to the rising levels of the damage seen in recent years, especially as the cost of damage is rising.
Read also: Farmers union calls for right to shoot wild boar in Dordogne
André Douard, president of the Ille-et-Vilaine hunters' federation, told France Bleu Armorique on October 22 that damage caused by wild boar had cost his department €800,000 in the year 2023.
Similarly, Jean-Paul Kergozien, a councillor in Carnac with responsibility for agriculture and rural affairs, said: “In one year in Morbihan the amount of compensation paid by hunters to farmers has risen from €185,000 to €455,000.”
