Fears influx of wild boars from Sweden

Wild boars African swine fewer wild boarWild boar with piglets. Photo: Pixabay.com

Hoksrud fears influx of wild boars from Sweden

Norwegian Minister of Agriculture, Bård Hoksrud (Frp), is concerned by the growing stock of wild boars in Sweden. The EU calls for drastic measures to bring the number of animals down.

 

Hoksrud was on Wednesday in Brussels to attend an extraordinary ministerial meeting on the spread of African swine fever in European countries.

At the meeting, EU experts called for drastic measures to reduce wild boar populations in Europe, he says.

Without such measures, stocks will most likely grow further and spread to other areas.

– It was a very clear signal, says Hoksrud.

The backdrop is the spread of African swine fever, a virus disease that is not dangerous to humans but is fatal to both domesticated pigs and wild boars.

Financial consequences

Spreading of the disease can have serious financial consequences for pig farmers.

– We have not had any outbreaks in the Nordic countries yet, but we are following the situation very closely. It will be serious if we were to experience outbreaks, Hoksrud tells NTB.

In Norway, wild boar is defined as an undesirable species, and currently, there are no more than 1,000 wild boars in the Norwegian wilderness. In Sweden, the population has grown to several hundred thousand.

That worries the Minister of Agriculture.

– The fear is that parts of this wild boar stock will cross into Norway and start spreading out, he explains.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today