A 25-day government-approved hunting spree to slaughter wild boars in Lantian County, Shaanxi Province, began last week in efforts to control its burgeoning population and to protect crops and the lives of local farmers.

"Three special hunting teams armed with automatic rifles are sent deep into the mountain to search for the animals, and we plan to kill 350 or so wild boars during this special hunting session," said Chen Chongjun, deputy magistrate of the county in charge of the hunt.

The hunting will be concentrated in Lantian's nine townships deep inside the mountains where people have been affected the most by the wild boars.

There are some 75,300 hectares of forest in Lantain County and the county plans to kill one wild boar for every 200 hectares of forest.

"The number is reasonable," Zhou Wei, director of the Forestry Bureau of Lantian County, told China Daily.

The plan was approved by the provincial government, Zhou added.

"In recent years, the number of wild animals, including wild boars, bears and other animals, are sharply increasing as a result of a significant improvement of the local ecological system and animal protection measures."

Zhou said his bureau determined the number of the wild boars to be killed based on extensive investigations and research. He said the plan will attempt to protect the local farmers' crops while taking into account the normal population count of wild boars.

The wild boars have been disastrous for farmers, attacking them and destroying their crops, Zhou said.

Local farmers all welcome the hunt, saying it will not only protect them and their property but also maintain ecological equilibrium.

Lin Xiancheng, a farmer in Nanguan Village, said he had to sleep in the farmland to guard his crops in the night after his hard work during the day because the wild boars would come to destroy his crops.

Li Liang, a farmer living in Gepai Village, an area most affected by wild boar attacks, told China Daily that 14 people in his village were injured by the animal in the first half of this year. "There are too many wild boars, it is really necessary to kill some," Li said.

According to China's Wild Animal Protection Law, the wild boar, though defined as an ordinary animal not a high priority in preservation among species, is already protected. As a result, local farmers do not hunt or harm the wild boars, Zhou said.

"This government-organized hunting session will be within the scope of the wild animal protection law and will not use any extreme methods such as poison and explosives which will destroy the habitat of the wild animals," Zhou said.

(China Daily September 1, 2005)