香港、警官負傷でイノシシ駆除開始　餌でおびき寄せ殺処分

【香港ＡＦＰ＝時事】香港で、警官が野生のイノシシに襲われて負傷したことから当局が駆除を開始し、餌をまいて群れをおびき寄せ、一晩で７頭を殺処分した。地元の動物愛護団体は怒りの声を上げている。（写真は香港の仔郊野公園で、来園者が持ち込んだパンを食べる野生のイノシシ）
　密集する高層ビルで知られる香港だが、亜熱帯性の山や緑地も多く、イノシシが多数繁殖している。先週、警官１人がイノシシに襲われて足を負傷。その３日後、漁農自然護理署（農漁業保護局、ＡＦＣＤ）は市街地に出没したイノシシを捕獲し殺処分する新方針を発表した。
　駆除作戦が始まったのは１７日夜。ＡＦＣＤの職員が香港仔（アバディーン）地区の道路を封鎖し、地元報道陣の前で路上にパン粉をまくと、すぐにイノシシの群れが現れた。７頭が麻酔銃で捕獲され、その後、薬物注射で殺処分された。
　香港愛護動物協会（ＳＰＣＡ）は１８日、ＡＦＣＤの駆除作戦とイノシシの個体数管理のための「あらゆる殺傷手段」に「厳しく反対する」と表明した。
　香港では近年、イノシシとの驚きの遭遇が地元メディアをにぎわせている。イノシシが路上で車と並走したり、ビーチで日光浴をする人々の間を駆け回ったり、香港国際空港の駐機場でにおいを嗅ぎ回ったり、さらには子ども服店の天井を突き破って落ちてきたりする姿が撮影されている。
　当局は、イノシシが人を襲う事例はこの１０年間で４７件報告されていると指摘。イノシシが人間から餌をもらったり、市街地をうろついたりすることに慣れてしまった地域を対象に駆除作戦を展開していくと説明した。
　１３の動物愛護団体が連名で立ち上げたイノシシの殺処分方針の撤回を求めるオンライン署名には、既に７万筆以上が集まっている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/11/19-11:57）

Hong Kong has begun culling wild boars following an attack on a police officer, with seven animals killed after they were lured onto the street by wildlife officials, sparking anger from conservationists on Thursday.
Best known for its densely packed skyscrapers, Hong Kong also boasts large tracts of subtropical mountains and parkland that host a thriving number of Eurasian wild pigs.
And increasingly humans and pigs are meeting face to snout.
Last week, officials announced a new policy to capture and kill boars that appeared in urban areas, three days after a police officer was gored in the leg.
Conservation groups were angered by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department's (AFCD) decision to switch to a kill policy, and the first culling operation on Wednesday night sparked further controversy.
In front of local media crews, officials closed off a road in the district of Aberdeen and scattered breadcrumbs on the ground.
A group of boars soon appeared and were shot with tranquilizer darts before being dispatched with lethal injections.
Roni Wong of the Hong Kong Wild Boar Concern Group tried to break through the police cordon but was stopped.
We agree with the government on one thing, that people should not feed wild animals, Wong said. But we should not put liability on the animals.
Hong Kong's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it severely opposed the AFCD operation and any lethal measure to manage the city's boar population.
Hong Kong used to allow a small number of hunters to shoot boars. But in 2017 it switched to a capture, neuter and relocate policy.
The AFCD says that policy has failed, with boar populations soaring to somewhere between 1,800 and 3,300 animals.
A plethora of bizarre boar encounters has filled local media pages in recent years.
The plucky porcines have been filmed running alongside vehicles on roads, jogging down beaches filled with sunbathers, sniffing the tarmac at the city's international airport -- and even falling through the ceiling of a children's clothing store.
Officials say 47 attacks have been recorded in the last decade and that their culling operations will target areas where boars have become accustomed to seeking food from humans or making forays into urban areas.
More than 70,000 people have signed an online petition by 13 animal rights groups urging the authorities to withdraw the new kill policy.