In the past three months, 5000 wild boars have been shot in the Veluwe, a record. Never before have so many animals been killed in such a short time in the nature reserve. The game managers say that the shooting is relatively easy this year: there is little food, so the boars leave the forests more often.
This season there are about 10,000 wild boars living in the nature reserve and that is far too many. It is intended that a maximum of 1350 will remain.
According to the owners of the forests, including Staatsbosbeheer, Natuurmonumenten and the Geldersch Landschap, there is only room in the Veluwe for a limited number of wild boars. More than 1350 is bad for the quality of the forests, because the animals eat the young growth. There would also be more collisions.
Exploded in number
The game managers have not been able to keep the number of wild boars at the desired number for years. In fact, their numbers in the Veluwe have exploded in the past two years. In 2019 there were still 4800 wild boars and last summer 10,000.
–