A scientific review of population trends and implications for management

Wild boar populations have undergone a systematic increase, in both size and distribution range, across most parts of Europe over the past 30 years. The growing number of wild boars has resulted in numerous economic, environmental, and social problems. Hunters, landowners and environmentalists have diverging opinions on the causes of the population growth in Europe, as well as different responses to managing it. Private landowners aim to combine biodiversity objectives with economic activities. However, the damage to agricultural land and forests in recent years due to increased wild boar populations is challenging their combined environmental, social and economic business models. To get a better view on the current situation, the causes and effects of these growing populations, and as well as assessing the effectiveness of certain measures which are taken to mitigate negative human-wild boar interactions, we have decided to try to find some answers within the vast amount of scientific papers written on the subject. This report is not a research paper. It is a review of the vast amount of scientific research which exists on the species. Our study is based on peer-reviewed papers published over the past 30 years on the topic of wild boar in Europe and covers a large number of research disciplines. Basing our conclusions on existing knowledge, this study proposes a number of policy recommendations to decrease the number of negative human-wild boar interactions. The Italian version can be found on the ELO website.