Wild boars. Photo: VCG

 Pilot spots for preventing and controlling problems between people and wild boars have been set up in 14 Chinese mainland provinces and regions according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. 

The initiative was launched to cope with the issue of wild boars across the country causing problems in people’s everyday lives, particularly bothering those who farm for a living. 

“The major problem is that the animals damage people’s agricultural products. They eat the seeds and harvested products,” Xiong Gang, a wild animal expert, told the Global Times.

Each pilot area has set up 117 hunting teams and carried out different forms of training. 

To deal with damage caused by wild boars, the pilot areas have raised compensation funds multiple channels as well as designing policies that offer relief aid for people who have been injured by the animals. 

The focus of each pilot spot is different. In Fujian Province, the loss of cash crops caused by wild boars could come under agricultural insurance. Shanxi and Hebei are also planning to set up comprehensive pilot policy insurance funds for tackling damage caused by wild boars.  

The 14 provinces and regions that have the pilot spots are in the North such as Shanxi Province, the East such as Zhejiang, and South such as Guangdong. 

In recent years, China has initiated a series of projects such as natural forest protection to enhance wildlife protection. Such efforts have improved the habitat for wildlife such as wild boars. 

The number of wild boars has been increasing sharply, reflecting China’s efforts in ecological protection.