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Wild ungulates are expanding in range and number worldwide leading to an urgent need to manage their populations to minimize conflicts and promote coexistence with humans. In the metropolitan area of Barcelona (MAB), wild boar is the main wildlife species causing a nuisance, from traffic accidents to health risks. Selective harvesting of specific sex and age classes and reducing anthropogenic food resources would be the most efficient approach to dealing with overpopulation. Nonetheless, there is a gap in knowledge regarding the age and sex selectivity of the capture methods currently applied in the MAB for wild boar population control. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the performance and age and sex bias of different hunting and capture methods and the seasonal patterns in their performance (number of captured individuals per event). From February 2014 to August 2022, 1454 wild boars were captured in the MAB using drop net, teleanaesthesia, cage traps, night stalks, and drive hunting. We applied generalized linear models (GLM) to compare the performance of these methods for the total number of wild boars, the wild boars belonging to each age category (i.e., adult, yearling, and juvenile), and for each season. The studied capture methods showed age-class bias and sex bias in adults (>2 years). Drive hunting and drop net removed mainly adult females and yearlings (1-2 years), with drive hunting having the highest performance for adult males. Instead, cage traps and drop net were the best methods to capture juveniles (<1 year). Overall, global performance was higher in summer, decreasingly followed by autumn and spring, winter being the worst performing season. Wildlife managers and researchers should consider the different performance and sex and age bias of each hunting and capture method, as well as the associated public cost, to improve efficiency and achieve the best results in wild boar population management., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Urbanization is an ongoing global environmental change. Wildlife may respond using anthropized environments and resources, which is known as synurbization, creating human-wildlife interactions. Wild boar (Sus scrofa) populations have become common in urban areas, including the metropolitan area of Barcelona. Humans respond to wild boars in urban environments either habituating, with lower conflict perception and higher wild boar acceptance, or sensitizing, with reduced tolerance towards wild boars. Since citizen response influences conflict management, this study analysed the drivers of human responses, which should allow adopting socially-accepted measures to manage synurbic wild boar populations. Interviews to 1956 Barcelona citizens were performed, grouping the response variables to score citizen and urban characteristics, as well as citizen lay-knowledge, emotions, experiences, and perception of wild boar. Five citizen clusters were identified: cluster 1 (3.3 %), highly habituated and active wild boar feeder; cluster 2 (11.3 %), habituated to wild boars with positive feelings; cluster 3 (19.8 %), not habituated nor sensitized, willing to maintain urban wild boar populations; cluster 4 (29.1 %), sensitized and concerned, defending to reduce wild boar; and cluster 5 (40.1 %), highly sensitized and proposing to reduce or even eliminate wild boar. Positive attitudes associated wild boar to aesthetic value, closeness to nature and sympathy, and were more frequent in young citizens with urban background and high education, animal lovers habituated to wild boar through contact without negative experiences. Conversely, negative attitudes were concerned about city fouling, safety or health, accepted lethal management measures, and were more frequent in older citizens with rural background, lower education, low contact with wild boar or sensitized through negative experiences. We document for the first time the sensitization and reciprocal habituation of humans to wild boar in urban areas. The identification of the drivers of citizen attitudes towards urban wildlife should be useful to design socially-accepted management measures., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Applying contemporary trapping standards when managing wildlife should no longer be an option, but a duty. Increasing wild boar populations originate a growing number of conflicts and hunting is the only cost-effective management option in most cases. However, new scenarios where hunting is unfeasible emerge and trapping necessities cope with lacking regulatory frameworks and technical guidelines. In this research, we evaluated drop nets, a capture method not considered by the international trapping standards, to capture Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa), a wildlife species not included in the list of mammal species under the scope of the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards (AIHTS). Less than 20% of the captured wild boars presented moderate or severe injuries attributable to the capture method, hence fulfilling the acceptance thresholds of the outdated AIHTS. Based on the new standards thresholds of acceptance, the humaneness of drop-nets in our study ranged 66-78%, under the 85% required. The capture success and selectivity were 100%, as ensured by operator-driven triggering, which should be considered the main strengths of this method, together with the minimization of animal suffering owing the short duration of the stressful situation. Additionally, in spite of the socially adverse environment, with people contrary to wild boar removal, no disturbances against the capture system or operations occurred. This is the first assessment of a drop-net capture method according to internationally accepted mammal trapping standards, with unconclusive results. However, there is a need for adapted procedures and thresholds of acceptance aimed at not-mechanical traps in general, and specifically at drop-nets. Compared to other live-capture methods, drop-nets minimize the duration of the stressful situation -at the expense of a strong adrenergic acute response-, maximize the probabilities of capturing entire sounders of prosocial species, which may be also considered as more humane, and has the ability to coordinate higher values of capture success, absolute selectivity and adaptability to difficult environments., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Urbanisation is a global human-induced environmental change and one of the most important threats to biodiversity. To survive in human-modified environments, wildlife must adjust to the challenging selection pressures of urban areas through behaviour, morphology, physiology and/or genetic changes. Here we explore the effect of urbanisation in a large, highly adaptable and generalist urban adapter species, the wild boar (Sus scrofa, Linnaeus 1758). From 2005 to 2018, we gathered wild boar data and samples from three areas in NE Spain: one urban (Barcelona municipality, n = 445), and two non-urban (Serra de Collserola Natural Park, n = 183, and Sant Llorenç del Munt i Serra de l'Obac Natural Park, n = 54). We investigated whether urbanisation influenced wild boar body size, body mass, body condition, and the concentration of serum metabolites, considering also the effect of age, sex and use of anthropogenic food resources. Wild boars from the urban area had larger body size, higher body mass, better body condition, and a higher triglyceride and lower creatinine serum concentrations than non-urban wild boars. In addition, urban wild boars consumed food from anthropogenic origin more frequently, which suggests that differences in their diet probably induced the biometric and the metabolic changes observed. These responses are probably adaptive and suggest that wild boars are thriving in the urban environment. Our results show that urbanisation can change the morphological and physiological traits of a large mammal urban adapter, which may have consequences in the ecology and response to urban selection pressures by the species. The phenotypic plasticity shown by wild boars provides both further and new evidence on the mechanisms that allow urban adapter species of greater size to respond to urbanisation, which is expected to continue growing globally over the coming decades., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Wild boar (Sus scrofa) population spread into urban and periurban areas has exacerbated conflicts with humans. There is a need for planned wild boar management strategies, and Population viability analysis (PVA) combined with perturbation analyses allow the assessment of the management effort of control methods. Our study aims to develop stochastic predictive models of the increasing wild boar population of the 80 km2 peri-urban Mediterranean area of Collserola Natural Park (CNP), located near Barcelona, Spain, as well as assessing specific management measures (including reduced food availability, selective harvest, and reduction in fertility). Population parameters were estimated from previously published census and hunting data provided by the CNP and the local hunting administration. The results revealed that under the current conditions the CNP wild boar population will continue to increase. The most efficient strategy to reduce wild boar abundance was a combination of reducing supplementary anthropogenic food resources and selective removal of juvenile (<1 year) and yearling (1-2 years) wild boar. These strategies will probably be also the most efficient ones in other oversupplemented increasing wild boar populations in similar situations, although specific studies will be needed to fine-tune the best management option for each context. PVA allows the prediction of future population trends and the assessment of the efficacy and efficiency of potential management strategies before implementing management measures., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Urban wild boars (Sus scrofa) from Barcelona, Spain, harbor great diversity of Streptococcus suis strains, including strains with the cps2 gene and with the same molecular profile as local human cases. The increasing trend of potential effective contacts for S. suis transmission is of public health concern.

Wild boar populations are expanding throughout the world and intruding into periurban and urban areas. In the last years, wild boar has colonized several European cities, including our study area, the city of Barcelona. It is required to identify the main factors driving wild boar into urban areas prior to establish management measures. We built Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) using 3148 wild boar presences registered in the urban area of Barcelona from 2010 to 2014 to identify the variables correlated with these presences. The variables analysed included proxies for distance to source population, urban food resources, climate and urban habitat structure. Wild boars enter the urban area from close natural habitat using corridors such as streams, preferably in fragmented urban environment, looking for food such as urban green areas or dry pet food from cat colonies. Wild boar presence is higher in spring possibly due to the births of piglets and the dispersion of yearlings during that season, and also when natural resources in the Mediterranean habitat fail to satisfy the nutritional requirements of the wild boar population during the summer season. Management measures derived from this study are currently being applied in the city of Barcelona, including vegetation clearings in the wild boar entrance areas and an awareness campaign aimed at reducing the anthropogenic food availability for wild boars. The methodology used can be applied to other cities with wild boar or even other wildlife species issues. The comparison between the factors attracting wild boars into different urban areas would be helpful to understand the global phenomenon., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The present study evaluated the limitations of the coprological sedimentation test to assess Macracanthorhynchus hirudinaceus infestation in 59 wild boars (Sus scrofa) from central Spain. The coprological sedimentation test appeared to be a poor predictor of both prevalence of infestation and the real parasite burden due to the high number of false negative results (prevalence was reduced from 61 to 16 %). Because of the potential increased risk of this zoonosis, it is suggested that alternative techniques be used in wildlife surveillance programmes.

Wild boar (WB, Sus scrofa) populations are increasing in urban areas, posing an epidemiological risk for zoonotic pathogens such as hepatitis E virus (HEV) and antimicrobial-resistant Campylobacter (AMR-CAMP), as well as non-zoonotic pathogens such as African swine fever virus (ASFV). An epidemiological extension of a validated Agent-Based Model (ABM) was developed to assess the one-year epidemiological scenarios of HEV, AMR-CAMP, and ASFV in the synurbic WB-human interface in Barcelona, Spain. The predicted citizen exposure was similar for HEV and AMR-CAMP, at 0.79% and 0.80% of the human population in Barcelona, respectively, despite AMR-CAMP being more prevalent in the WB population than HEV. This suggests a major role of faeces in pathogen transmission to humans in urban areas, resulting in a non-negligible public health risk. The ASFV model predicted that the entire WB population would be exposed to the virus through carcasses (87.6%) or direct contact (12.6%) in 51–71 days after the first case, with an outbreak lasting 71–124 days and reducing the initial WB population by 95%. The ABM predictions are useful for animal and public health risk assessments and to support risk-based decision-making. The study underscores the need for interdisciplinary cooperation among animal, public, and environmental health managers, and the implementation of the One Health approach to address the epidemiological and public health risks posed by the synurbization of WB in urban areas. The spatially explicit epidemiological predictions of the ABM can be adapted to other diseases and scenarios at the wildlife-livestock-human interface.

Tick‐borne pathogens (TBPs) constitute an emerging public health concern favoured by multidimensional global changes. Amongst these, increase and spread of wild boar (Sus scrofa) populations are of special concern since this species can act as a reservoir of zoonotic pathogens and promote tick abundance. Thus, we aimed to make a first assessment of the risk by TBPs resulting from wild boar and ticks in the vicinity of a highly populated area. Between 2014 and 2016, we collected spleen samples and 2256 ticks from 261 wild boars (out of 438 inspected) in the metropolitan area of Barcelona (MAB; northeast Spain). We morphologically identified four tick species: Hyalomma lusitanicum (infestation prevalence: 33.6%), Dermacentor marginatus (26.9%), Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (18.9%) and R. bursa (0.2%). Ticks were pooled according to species and individual host. A total of 180 tick pools and 167 spleen samples were screened by real‐time PCR and/or reverse line blot hybridization assay for Ehrlichia sp., Anaplasma sp., Babesia sp., Rickettsia sp., Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and Coxiella burnetii. Seventy‐two out of the 180 tick pools were positive to Rickettsia spp. (minimum prevalence of 8.7%), including Rickettsia massiliae, R. slovaca and R. raoultii. We did not detect Rickettsia spp. in wild boar spleens nor other TBPs in ticks or wild boars. Since the ticks identified can bite humans, and the recorded spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae are zoonotic pathogens, there is a risk of SFG rickettsiae transmission for MAB inhabitants. Our results suggest a broader distribution of H. lusitanicum, competent vector for the Crimean‐Congo haemorrhagic fever virus than previously known. Wild boar is not a Rickettsia spp. reservoir according to the spleen negative results. However, its abundance could favour tick life cycle and abundance, and its proximity to humans could promote the infection risk by Rickettsia spp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The wild boar (Sus scrofa) has been identified as a reservoir of zoonoses and food-borne pathogens. Wild boar populations are growing worldwide, also near urban centers such as Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). The aim of this study was to assess the presence of zoonotic agents in the wild boar populations from the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (MAB). The detection of Escherichia coli carrying critical antimicrobial resistance genes to β-lactams and, for the first time in Spain, the detection of toxigenic Clostridioides difficile strains in wild boars foraging in urban areas show the value of this game species as a sentinel of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria (AMRB) and zoonotic agents in the environment. Moreover, the wild boars foraging in urban and peri-urban locations were more exposed to AMRB sources than the wild boars dwelling in natural environments. The responsible health agencies should undertake specific actions to fully assess the potential implications for the human population and/or environmental health. Zoonotic diseases and hazards beyond the compulsory surveillance diseases should be specifically targeted in the growing human–wildlife interface of urban environments such as the MAB under the One Health approach. Disease transmission among wild boars, domestic animals and humans is a public health concern, especially in areas with high wild boar densities. In this study, fecal samples of wild boars (n = 200) from different locations of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona were analyzed by PCR to explore the frequency of β-lactamases and extended cephalosporin and carbapenem resistance genes (ESBLs) in Escherichia coli strains and the presence of toxigenic Clostridioides difficile. The prevalence of genes conferring resistance to β-lactam antimicrobials was 8.0% (16/200): blaCMY-2 (3.0%), blaTEM-1b (2.5%), blaCTX-M-14 (1.0%), blaSHV-28 (1.0%), blaCTX-M-15 (0.5%) and blaCMY-1 (0.5%). Clostridioides difficile TcdA+ was detected in two wild boars (1.0%), which is the first report of this pathogen in wild boars in Spain. Moreover, the wild boars foraging in urban and peri-urban locations were more exposed to AMRB sources than the wild boars dwelling in natural environments. In conclusion, the detection of E. coli carrying ESBL/AmpC genes and toxigenic C. difficile in wild boars foraging in urban areas reinforces the value of this game species as a sentinel of environmental AMRB sources. In addition, these wild boars can be a public and environmental health concern by disseminating AMRB and other zoonotic agents. Although this study provides the first hints of the potential anthropogenic sources of AMR, further efforts should be conducted to identify and control them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Body condition (i.e., the amount of the energy stored in organs and tissues) is a key parameter that has been related with health, reproductive performance and density of wild ungulates including the wild boar (Sus scrofa). In this wild pig, a reference method to assess body condition has not yet been agreed and different procedures have been used in recent literature. The aim of this work was to generate an easy and reliable method based on biometrical measurements and with the ability to predict body fat in live or die boars. For this, a total of 207 hunted wild boar from three Spanish populations with contrasting food availability were included in this study. Sex, age, biometrical parameters (body weight, total length and chest girth) and body condition indicators (brisket and rump fat thickness, kidney fat index (KFI), ratio between chest girth-total length and scaled mass index) were assessed for each animal. A boosted regression trees (BRT) approach was carried out to find models based on age, sex and biometrical features that predicted brisket fat thickness in the studied animals. BRT models including sex, body weight, total length and chest girth as explanatory variables were able to predict brisket fat thickness in wild boar (68–73% of deviance explained). These models were not influenced by the location of sampling and their predictive values showed a good agreement with real brisket fat thickness (94.1–95.6). Predictive values obtained in BRT models from each area also agreed with food availability suggesting this is a valid indicator of body condition of wild boar in a broad range of environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]