Wild boar populations are expanding into European and North American cities, creating coexistence challenges where welfare considerations must inform management responses.
Urban wild boar welfare involves managing animals that are thriving in human-modified environments in ways that reduce conflict without imposing disproportionate welfare harm. Culling creates a welfare cost that must be weighed against its limited effectiveness: removed individuals are rapidly replaced by newcomers from surrounding populations, meaning welfare harm accumulates without producing the management benefit used to justify it. Non-lethal deterrence and exclusion are more effective at preventing specific conflicts while allowing boar to persist in appropriate areas. The most important human behaviour change is eliminating intentional and accidental feeding that habituates boar to human presence and resources, as habituated boar create significantly more conflict than those that naturally avoid humans. Public education about boar behaviour and appropriate responses to encounters reduces fear-driven demand for culling.