(ANSA) Rome, August 19 - An escalation in damage and fatal
accidents caused by wild boars in Italy is due to "uncontrolled
proliferation" of the animals believed to number more than 1
million on the peninsula, the Coldiretti farmers' trade union
said Wednesday.
Accidents such as the death of a 39-year-old man who died
when his Smart car slammed into a wild boar near L'Aquila are a
consequence of the population of the free ranging animals
doubling over the past 10 years, Coldiretti added.
"The security of rural areas and suburbs is in danger to
the proliferation of wild animals like boars that invade
cultivated land, inhabited areas and roads where they pose a
grave danger to things and persons."
Total damage by the pesky boars to crops, farm animals and
road accidents costs almost 100 million euros a year, Coldiretti
estimates, even before taking into consideration fatalities.
While evidently stopping short of asking for a cull
specifically, Coldiretti has demanded changes in the law and has
drawn up a lengthy paper on the matter on which it had a long
discussion with the environmentalist Lega Ambiente pressure
group, the union said.
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