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Pigs Might Fly, And Phuket's Wild Boars Enjoy Their Freedom
By Phuketwan Reporters Friday, August 28, 2015
PHUKET: A roundup is being planned for wild boars that are breeding and growing in number in Phuket City, posing a danger to traffic and to health.
The Public Health officer at Rassada Council, Nattahong Ketmanee, told Phuketwan today: ''We tried to capture them once and got only four. That leaves about 40 or 50 still running free.''
The photograph above by expat resident Debra Mierczak shows one of the wild boar gangs that lives in open space near Tesco Lotus supermarket on the bypass road - with all the risks that come with having wild animals close to a major thoroughfare.
The other herd is less obvious, and based on Phuket City's Rang Hill.
Ms Mierczak, a campaigner for sorting out many of Phuket's pollution problems, was heading for the Highways Department to talk to officials today about the dangers posed by the boars.
Khun Nattahong said today that the Tesco Lotus animals were on the border between Rassada and Vichit and both councils would need to be involved if they were to be rounded up and taken to a more appropriate place in another province.
''We have tried to deal with the issue but it takes particular skills to round up wild boars,'' she said.
''People also continue to feed them so there are health and odor issues for the people who live nearby. They breed very fast.''
The Kusoldharm Foundation, expert at catching snakes that inevitably make for exciting news in the local community tabloids, are likely to be called in for Phuket's Last Wild Boar Roundup.
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Comments
Comments have been disabled for this article.
I'm happy to see that something is going to be done. They have grown in number over the years and are becoming a danger to themselves and others. Only a few weeks ago did I nearly have a collision with a car that decided to stop abruptly to admire them. I am led to believe that people have been feeding them from the side of the road, and they have now become reliant on it. In the short term maybe putting a fence up would help, but ultimately I would prefer to see them re- homed, as traffic is moving fast along this stretch, albeit when there is no road works.
Posted by
GazB
on
August 28, 2015 11:04
Instead to move the wild boars to another province, it would be better to move them at Khao Phra Thaeo Wildlife Sanctuary near the Park Rangers' Station to avoid they are killed by too many poachers.
Posted by
WhistleBlower
on
August 28, 2015 11:05
Oh, please, don't take them away!
They're so friendly,unlike usual wild board, and cuts.
I brought there visitors few times, it was a nice zoo-right-in-the-city scene, everyone liked them,however Thais were surprised that farangs like interacting "with pigs" so much.
By the way, many cities in Europe got wild boars there because of the changing eco systems, e.g. wild boars are roaming in Berlin.
Do they really create such health? May be it is possible, and will be enough, just to take a bit of care of them at their current residence?
Posted by
Sue
on
August 28, 2015 11:42
Perhaps after the Kusoldharm Foundation has rounded up and relocated the wild boar, they could make a start on the jet-ski hirers?
Posted by
Chris
on
August 28, 2015 12:00
I am with Sue on this one. Ms Debra should leave the island. This family of piggies has never once posed a threat to any traffic, yes I pass them every day, also never seen them on the road.
What I would like to see, is every free roaming soi dog, rounded up and euthanaised. The dogs are vermin.
Posted by
Robin
on
August 28, 2015 14:13
Don't you have to admire and respect the cleverness and the rights of beings who move back and forth across the municipal borders to evade the vigilance and determination of the authorities?
Posted by
juswunderin
on
August 28, 2015 16:13
Editor Comment:
And where are the snouts in the trough, juswunderin?
I am with Sue and Whistleblower on this, move them to a protected National Park where they belong.
I would also comment, I have been years passed them many times over many and never exp, whilst stuck in traffic, they provide an amusing interlude. Living in harmony is something such as this, is a lesson for the money grabbers in Phuket.
Posted by
Stuart
on
August 28, 2015 19:51
Are these really wild boars? Are they native to Phuket? Or are they feral pigs?
Posted by
Ken Freed
on
August 28, 2015 21:29
Wild Pigs and Disease
Wild pigs are known carriers of at least 45 different parasites (external and internal) and diseases (bacterial and viral) that pose a threat to livestock, pets, wildlife,
The threat of disease transmission from wild pigs to other animals is probably of greatest concern to the livestock .Several of these diseases are swine specific (both wild and domestic), but others can affect cattle, sheep, goats, dogs, horses, and several species of native wild mammals. Infectious diseases that are significant to livestock and other animals include
Leptospirosis
Brucellosis
E. coli
Salmonellosis
Toxoplasmosis
Rabies
Swine Influenza viruses
Trichinosis
Giardiasis
Cryptosporidiosis
These are the facts Sue !!! Next time you have visitors , I'd advice you to think twice before making the sight of filthy ,wild animals who are a hazard to all drivers on the roads of Phuket and the health hazard to the public and the natural wild life, as a holiday highlight for them !
Debra
Posted by
Debra MiercAk
on
August 28, 2015 22:12
Debra,
these are not (indian) wild boars, but just feral pigs.
Does it change anything in your listing, please..?
I think it does.
Posted by
Sue
on
August 29, 2015 03:13
Debra, that is quite a good list for the piggies. I wonder what lurks in the drains, the water in the new Tesco underpass and at Sapan Hin dump?
I think if you had to publish a list of all of those lurgies, we would have to abandon Phuket, as it would not be deemed fit for human habitation.
Posted by
Robin
on
August 29, 2015 11:32
=Debra MiercAk= The only really hazardous, dangerous species on Phuket which has also multiplied to unhealthy high numbers is the - Homo Sapiens. Only that species, should be cut back massively in numbers. ;-)
Posted by
Alfred
on
August 29, 2015 14:43
Today Tesco pigs disappeared.
..already gone, or just were taking siesta in a bush?
Posted by
Sue
on
August 29, 2015 15:12
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I'm happy to see that something is going to be done. They have grown in number over the years and are becoming a danger to themselves and others. Only a few weeks ago did I nearly have a collision with a car that decided to stop abruptly to admire them. I am led to believe that people have been feeding them from the side of the road, and they have now become reliant on it. In the short term maybe putting a fence up would help, but ultimately I would prefer to see them re- homed, as traffic is moving fast along this stretch, albeit when there is no road works.
Posted by GazB on August 28, 2015 11:04