Wild boars have been causing a series of incidents, digging up the ground everywhere in search of food. Their appearances have also increased in northern Tohoku, where they had not been previously confirmed to be living.
■Searching for food…ground is all bumpy Kazuno City Osarizawa Elementary School Principal Hideo Asamizu: “The grass in front of the pool, and the area inside this green, it’s all turned black.” The leveled grounds have been vandalized in many places, leaving the ground bumpy. Cameras installed at the site captured two wild boars around 8 p.m. on the 4th of last month.
Kazuno City Osarizawa Elementary School Principal Hideo Asamizu: “It’s been dug up so much that it’s obviously impossible for people to enter.” Wild boars have a habit of digging up the ground when searching for food such as plants. Principal Hideo Asamizu of Kazuno Municipal Osarizawa Elementary School: “The damage has been spreading almost every day since April 1st, and I think it was at its peak around the 15th. It feels like they’re coming to look for earthworms or moles.” The school that was hit is located in Kazuno City, Akita Prefecture. To ensure the safety of the children, parents are still being asked to pick up and drop off their children.
Parent: “(Q. Have you ever heard of damage from wild boars?) No, I hadn’t. When you’re walking and you’re suddenly attacked, or they come up from behind, there’s really nothing you can do to protect yourself.” Until now, they had been using devices that make noise as a countermeasure, but after the damage, they have also installed electric fences. Principal Hideo Asamizu of Kazuno Municipal Osarizawa Elementary School: “I heard that there were a few (wild boars) around last fall, but bears were a bigger problem. Wild boars weren’t really highlighted.” However, he says he has now once again felt the threat of wild boars firsthand. Principal Hideo Asamizu of Kazuno Municipal Osarizawa Elementary School said, “It’s scary. If they really hit people or cars, there will be a lot of damage. I felt very uneasy.” Now, fear of wild boars as a new threat is spreading in northern Tohoku. According to the Ministry of the Environment’s surveys up to fiscal year 2003, wild boars were not found in Aomori, Akita, and Iwate prefectures. However, the latest distribution shows that they have expanded their habitat to northern Tohoku.
■Wild boar damage even at World Heritage sites In Iwate Prefecture, where the presence of wild boars had not been confirmed, just like in Akita Prefecture, damage is now being caused to World Heritage sites. Last month, the grounds of Chusonji Temple in Hiraizumi Town were damaged by wild boars digging up the soil. The temple has taken measures such as installing nets in what is believed to be entry points, and there has been no further damage since then. What the wild boar is trying to dig up in the darkness are potatoes. Such damage to agricultural crops is also becoming serious. In Iwate Prefecture, damage caused by wild boars was first confirmed in fiscal year 2011. By fiscal year 2023, the estimated damage amounted to approximately 60 million yen… more than 50 times in just over a decade.
Associate Professor Takayoshi Yamauchi of Iwate University says, “Unlike deer and bears, wild boars have a very high reproductive rate. Once they start to increase and agricultural damage begins to occur, there is no stopping them.” Damage is spreading in northern Tohoku. Why exactly is the habitat of wild boars expanding? Associate Professor Takayoshi Yamauchi of Iwate University says, “One of the reasons for the expansion of wild boar distribution is global warming. Wild boars are animals with hooves, so they are inherently vulnerable to snow. When a lot of snow accumulates, their ability to move slows down, increasing the probability of them being hunted and the possibility of being attacked by predators. However, with global warming, the amount of snowfall decreases and the snow melts earlier in the spring, which makes it easier for their distribution to expand.” He says that the only way to stop the expansion of their habitat is to capture them. However, the declining number of hunters is also a challenge. [TV Asahi NEWS]
