Wild boar are increasingly colonizing urban and peri-urban areas across Europe and Asia, creating novel coexistence challenges that require evidence-based management to protect both human safety and animal welfare.
Urban wild boar face welfare challenges distinct from their rural counterparts. Vehicle strikes in urban environments cause traumatic injuries in unfamiliar surroundings far from cover. Boar that become food-conditioned to human sources lose wariness and face increased persecution. Lethal management through urban shooting poses public safety risks and typically must be conducted at night. Culling of adult sows during the breeding season orphans piglets who cannot survive independently. Non-lethal approaches including waste management to remove food attractants, strategic exclusion fencing, and oral contraceptive programs avoid these harms while reducing conflict. Community education about not feeding boar reduces food conditioning that drives population concentration in urban areas.