The wild boar Sus scrofa L. as neighbor in an agricultural landscape – a new project

Herbst, C., Keuling, O

Evidence of the Importance of Host Habitat Use in Predicting the Dilution Effect of Wild Boar for Deer Exposure to Anaplasma spp

Foci of tick-borne pathogens occur at fine spatial scales, and depend upon a complex arrangement of factors involving climate, host abundance and landscape composition. It has been proposed that the presence of hosts that support tick feeding but not pathogen multiplication may dilute the transmission of the pathogen. However, models need to consider the spatial component to adequately explain how hosts, ticks and pathogens are distributed into the landscape

Wild boar density data generated by camera trapping in nineteen European areas

This report presents the results of field activities in relation to the generation of reliable wild boar density values by camera trapping (CT) in 19 areas in Europe, mainly in East Europe. Random Encounter Model (REM) densities ranged from 0.35±0.24 to 15.25±2.41 (SE) individuals/km2. No statistical differences in density among bioregions were found. The number of contacts was the component of the trapping rate that determined the coefficient of variation (CV) the most. The daily range (DR) significantly varied as a function of management; the higher values were detected in hunting grounds compared to protected areas, indicating that movement parameters are population specific, and confirming the potential role of hunting activities in increasing wild boar movement and contact rates among individual or groups. The results presented in this report illustrate that a harmonized approach to actual wildlife density estimation (namely for terrestrial mammals) is possible at a European scale, sharing the same protocols, collaboratively designing the study, processing, and analysing the data. This report adds reliable wild boar density values that have the potential to be used for wild boar abundance spatial modelling, both directly or to calibrate outputs of model based on abundance (such as hunting bags) or occurrence data. Future REM developments should focus on improving the precision of estimates (probably through increased survey effort). Next steps require an exhaustive and representative design of a monitoring network to estimate reliable trends of wild boar populations as a function of different factors in Europe. In this regard, the newly created European Observatory of Wildlife will be a network of observation points provided by collaborators from all European countries capable to monitor wildlife population at European level.EFSA-Q-2020-00677Peer reviewe

Managing wild boar - considerations for wild boar management based on game biology data

The wild boar is a large ungulate which may produce serious economic problems. As the wild boar is highly reproductive, a fast dispersing species and flexible in behavior, management has to be adapted to the adaptive wild boar populations. On the other hand, the wild boar lives small scaled in family-groups, which enables management concepts on regional scale. Female wild boar of all age classes should be hunted in favour by comprehensive hunting methods for wild boar population regulation

Guidance on estimation of abundance and density data of wild ruminant population: methods, challenges, possibilities

ENETWILD Consortium.The methods for estimating relative abundance and density in wild ruminant species are reviewed and insights on how to obtain reliable estimations by using those methods are provided. Eighteenmethods used in nineteenwild ruminant species widely distributed across Europe are reviewed. In accordance with the ENETWILD consortium objectives, we evaluate if different types of data can be used to generate harmonisedand comparable database at large scale and for calibration of hunting data into abundanceindices or population density. In addition, recommendations to select the methods to estimate the abundance or density and its implementations for ungulate populations are provided. How to increase the output quality provided by certain methods recognised as reliable (good accuracy and precision)and with the potential to be used for the validation and calibration ofother direct (i.e. based on observation of animals) or indirect (i.e. based on signs of animal activity) methods was recommended. Largely, the “counting” of large herbivores on a regional scale is often unfeasible, it can only be possible to accurately assess population status at local scale. We show that the habitat type plays a key role in the selection of the best method to determine density or relative abundance and that this is partially irrespective to species characteristics. A method that gives a density estimate rather than relative abundance, if possible, should be used. High‐quality hunting data statistics (collected at fine spatial resolution) have the highest availability and comparability potential across Europe, to give long‐term and large‐scale trends and should be used in predictive spatial modelling of wild ruminant relative abundance and density. Therefore, their standardized and harmonised collection is strongly recommended. On a local scale (e.g. management units), camera trapping is a method that can be conducted in different environmental conditions and at any time to collect robust data. In open areas, where camera trappingmay require an excessive effort, we suggest using methods involving the direct detection of animals (vantage points, linear transects, block counts, random points). This should be carried outby correctly defining the study areas (for instance by means of distance sampling) and by estimating the repeatability of the results.Peer reviewe