Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

For a few decades, the wild boars are established over large areas in southern and central
Sweden. Where they cause problems in terms of damage to crops in the agriculture
landscape, where rooting, browsing and trampling, but also damage to the crop when wild
boars chosen daily rest in the cultivated fields. Along with the growing number of wild
boars the rate of car accident with wild boars has also increased.

Here I examined the daily rests of wild boar (Sus scrofa) sows in southern Sweden, to
determine the factors which the wild boars sows choose for daily rest. By determining what
factors are important in this selection of daily rests, we may be able to make management
measures to reduce the damage wild boars make in the agriculture landscape by attracting
them to places where they do less economic damage and accidents on roads.

In this study I have examined 123 daily rest positions from 14 different individual wild
boar sows fitted with GPS collared in Southern Sweden, Skåne County in Christinehof,
Högestad Kronovalls estate. Data was collared over the years 2004-2006 during the period
from June 1 to September 30. My field data consists of quantifying various habitats, tree
species (regeneration) at different altitudes, shrub layer, grass density, fallen trees and bush
heap, soil type, light intensity and exposure. Apart from the daily rests I also have a control
position per boar position, 30m from the current daily rest to determine the differences /
similarities in the factors above, for sites which were not daily rests. Based on these inputs,
I used Wilcoxon signed-rank test to see if there are differences between the daily rests and
the control positions.

The results from these daily rests shows that wild boar sows seems to want to expose
themselves as little as possible in their daily rests, requiring the protection of vegetation
from 0-2 feet. Areas with shrubs that are 1-4 feet high are increase the chance that wild
boars chose to put their daily rest there. Wild boars also showed and my analysis a
tendency to put their daily rests by fallen trees and bush heap/logging remained after
harvesting and it clearly shows that the light intensity is a depending factor for the wild
boars in the choice of daily rest.

This study recommend further research whether these factors can control wild boars and
confine to areas which can tolerate the damage by wild board, and where they are of less
economic threat.