NINE wild boars at Fairy Lake Botanical Garden in Luohu District were captured early Monday morning and transported later to Shenzhen wildlife rescue center, Shenzhen Evening News reported.

Guangdong wildlife management department approved the capture.

It is reported that since last year, more wild boars were spotted visiting the garden, posing a threat to visitors. The park has made a request to intervene because of the threat.

With the provincial authority’s approval, Shenzhen wildlife protection department decided to trap the wild boars to reduce their population to an appropriate level.

“These captured boars will be used for the development of a warning system to wildlife diseases and will then be sent for trainings designed to help animals return to nature,” said Zeng Zhiliao, senior veteran from the city’s wildlife rescue center.

From last November to this February, Shenzhen wildlife protection department conducted four campaigns to capture a total of seven boars. They were all sent to the city’s eastern mountain areas.

Wild boars have no predators and reproduce very fast. As a result, the department conducted another trapping operation this summer.

Based on previous experiences, the department has worked out a more efficient plan that adopted a more humane way to avoid endangering animals, said the report.

Meanwhile, using the boars’ activity patterns, staff from the department decided to set up a wire mesh enclosure at a forest area in the park where they normally gather to trap them.

According to Zeng, the country’s regulations on wildlife specify that local governments should take measures to prevent dangers caused by wild animals.

A total of six provinces in the country including Guangdong have piloted human intervention to control the number of wild boars in a bid to reduce potential dangers to human beings, Zeng said.  (Wang Jingli)