EDE – Riders who are startled by the corpses of dead boars, hikers who see how a wild boar comes very close and dogs who are attacked. Due to the lack of food, the wild boars on the Veluwe are having a very hard time. “They are dying in droves.”
It is a special image on the Mosselse veld above Ede. A wild boar stops in front of a fence where walkers and cyclists pass. He does not flee, as he would in normal circumstances. “These animals are on the verge of falling over,” says forester Frank Theunissen of Natuurmonumenten.
After a number of fat years, there is far too little food for the many boars that walk on the Veluwe. This ensures that the animals look for food not only at night but also during the day. They no longer stay in their own protected environment, but walk further and further, including into the built-up area of Ede.
And so they are increasingly visible to everyone who comes into nature. “They are actually looking for food 24 hours a day.”
https://twitter.com/ftheunissen3/status/1477686964329537544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1477686964329537544%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gelderlander.nl%2Fede%2Fzwakke-en-dode-wilde-zwijnen-zijn-overal-op-de-veluwe-zichtbaar-zielig-dit-is-de-natuura0bbceb7%2F
Many boars would otherwise be shot
But that food is simply not there. And so many animals die. “We sometimes go to places where visitors are not allowed,” says Theunissen.
“We have been seeing dead wild boars there regularly lately. They then make a kind of bed and then die. That sounds pathetic, but actually they are natural processes.”
There is now a high wildlife population, there is nothing to eat and so they die in droves
To reduce the game population, the goal this season was already to shoot 8800 of the more than 10,000 boars. “There is now a high wildlife population, there is nothing to eat and so they are dying in droves.”
Victor Nuijten, forester of the municipality of Ede, also sees it happening. “Wild boars have been dying of hunger since November, at the moment it is going very fast. Actually, we get a daily report of a dead boar found, just this morning from a rider.
In addition, we receive a few reports every week of found animals that are in very bad shape. If that is really the case, we will shoot them. Fortunately, we also meet animals that do look good. It is precisely the weak animals that are not making it now.”
Note: do not feed the animals!
Nuijten understands that it is difficult for people to see the animals suffer. “We also want to emphasize that people should not feed the animals that are now coming very close. That may make them last an extra week, but in the end the animal won’t make it either. And we don’t want the animals to get used to people either.”
The animals are already less shy, Nuijten notes. “Because they are hungry, they are less anxious. I have seen animals that I could pet, so to speak. The feeling of hunger rules, then they take the danger for granted.”
Dogs attacked in the forest
The animals are seen closer and closer to the built-up area, sometimes they even walk into the residential area. This can cause dangerous situations. Because, for example, you can’t tell dogs to avoid boars. They investigate from their instinct.
At the dog off-leash area in Ede’s nature, among other places, dog owners warn each other. “I have already had a few reports of dogs being attacked by a boar, that will undoubtedly happen more often,” says Nuijten. “So keep dogs well under control.”
But that is not easy, says Karin Kuik, one of the dog owners. In the area where the dogs are allowed to run free, her dog was attacked by a wild boar.
“I suddenly saw a very large boar coming towards me from the forest. I started running and standing behind a big tree. The adrenaline was rushing through my body. Fortunately, my dogs came to me. Only later did I see that one had been hit by the boar with the tusks. There is a round hole in his buttock. Fortunately, the boar eventually went the other way.”
‘Maybe we should be a little more afraid’
Kuik hopes that other dog owners are alert. “Those boars are no longer afraid. And maybe we should be a little more afraid.” Her dog is now doing well.
“She is cheerful, and on the mend. But I do avoid the forest for a while, I only walk close to the cycle path, where I can see the dogs.”
