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Officials in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province have suspended a proposed cull of wild boar, after about 10,000 local people signed a petition against the plan.

Wild boar have been propagating rapidly under government-backed protection schemes, but invasions by the animals of villagers' homes have been reported in 20 counties and districts in Heilongjiang.

The authorities in the cities of Mudanjiang and Jixi, which have borne the brunt of the damage, had approved a cull of 50 wild boar until the end of December to be supervised and carried out by local forestry officials in designated areas.

Forestry authorities also promised that no individual hunters would be allowed to take part.

Days after the announcement, 10,000 local residents led by wildlife enthusiasts signed a petition against the cull.

Members of a wildlife organization in Harbin Institute of Technology voiced concern that the cull could run out of the government's control.

As wild boar population more than doubled from 30,000 in 2000 to 70,000 in 2005, the province reported 50 cases of attacks on villagers and damage to crops.

China's law on wild animal protection prohibits the hunting of animals under state protection. However, villagers have complained that they have tried every possible method to drive the wild boar away from communities without success.

Tao Jin, a wildlife protection official with the Forestry Bureau, argued that the law allowed government-approved culls when scientific arguments proved the population of certain animals should be checked. But the government decided to suspend the cull in the face of strong public opposition.

The public debate on the conflict between wildlife protection and farmers' livelihoods is still going on here. Wildlife experts have suggested farmers dig moats to protect crops against attacks and the relocation villagers living in deep mountains.

Tao said the government's limited forestry protection funding could not cover the costs of further protection measures. Limiting the wild boar population and developing the controlled breeding of domesticated wild boars might be a solution.

(Xinhua News Agency November 9, 2006)