In recent years, with the changes in the ecological environment, the population of wild animals such as wild boars continues to grow, expanding their range of activities such as foraging. In many outskirts of cities in China, and even in some city centers, the presence of wild boars can be seen. This not only leads to incidents of harming humans but also poses a threat to public transportation safety.
On October 29, the “Nanjing Railway Station” issued a notice stating that on the evening of October 27, a wild boar intruded into the high-speed rail connecting line and collided with the train D5515, causing equipment failure. During the process of troubleshooting and handling the fault after getting off the train, the train mechanic was unfortunately hit and killed by a passing train under restricted speed on the adjacent track. The equipment failure led to extensive delays at the Nanjing South Station, with a large number of passengers stranded at the station. The Shanghai Railway Bureau mentioned that the mechanic who was hit was only in his twenties.
Incidents of wild boars impacting and threatening public transportation are not uncommon. On August 12th this year, at Xingguo West Station in Xingguo County, Jiangxi Province, passengers waiting for a train were startled as a wild boar suddenly broke in. Subsequently, firefighters arrived and captured the wild boar using restraining forks, ropes, axes, and other tools. During the process, the wild boar broke the tempered glass of the waiting room, escaped the station, and was later driven away to the forest.
Moreover, on November 26th last year, the K7541 train collided with two wild boars in Tieling City, Liaoning Province, resulting in one dead and one injured wild boar, causing a 35-minute delay to the train.
On October 27th, wild boars were spotted in Beijing, Nanjing, and Zhaotong simultaneously. It was reported that on that day, a wild boar over one meter long and weighing about 25 kilograms, with an injured right front leg, entered a resident’s bedroom in Miaofengshan Town, Mentougou District, Beijing, and collapsed beside the bed. Fortunately, no damage was done to the room.
On the same day, a wild boar rushed into the lobby of a four-star hotel in Nanjing, causing chaos upon seeing people, and was trapped by revolving and glass doors, then captured. In addition, in Yingshan County, Mo Han Township, Huayuan Village, Zhaotong, Yunnan, a woman encountered six wild boars falling from a cliff onto the road while driving, resulting in four dead boars, one severely injured that later died, and another with less severe injuries fleeing into the nearby forests.
On September 27th, also in Zhaotong, Yunnan, a 77-year-old woman was attacked by a wild boar while walking in the mountains. After being bitten, the elderly woman defended herself with a sickle and killed the wild boar. She revealed that the wild boar had bitten four people consecutively within two days.
On October 25th, two places were disturbed by incidents involving wild boars. Around 9 a.m. on the 25th, in Yandongguan Road, Jiande City, Hangzhou, a wild boar weighing around 80 kilograms stormed into nearby shops, causing chaos. According to the shop owners, residents suffered hand and thigh injuries during attempts to drive away the wild boar.
On the same day, a giant wild boar weighing about 100 kilograms suddenly rushed out onto Yunqiao Road in Jinxian County, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. It rampaged, attacking local residents, and causing injuries to four people. The wild boar first invaded an auto repair shop, injuring a young man inside. Later, it barged into a woman’s home, biting her leg, and causing multiple bite wounds to her 91-year-old grandmother, with her grandfather losing a toe in the process of chasing away the wild boar. The wild boar was eventually shot down.
In mid-October, in Longtan Village, Fumin County, Kunming, a wild boar frequently wreaked havoc, feeding on crops, and was shot dead by the police after receiving reports.
According to statistics, there are two million wild boars in China, distributed in 28 provinces, with 857 counties in 26 provinces experiencing incidents of wild boar invasions.
A resident of Nanjing, Li Haoming (pseudonym), told Da Ji Yuan that wild boars originally lived in the deep mountains, but now they often appear in cities and villages, threatening human safety. This indicates that the normal living environment of wild boars has been disrupted. It could be due to rampant logging in the mountains, reducing the food available for them, causing the wild boars to venture into villages to forage and even bite people in urban areas. In order to control the population of wild boars, more of them may face hunting and culling.