Wild Boar Population Surges in Rabat During COVID-19 Lockdown

Since March 20, 2020, Morocco has taken measures to fight the spread of Covid-19. Measures that require reducing travel and temporarily suspending certain socio-economic activities. Taking into account the specificity of the sector, the Department of Water and Forests has joined in respecting these measures, while remaining focused on its many attributions in terms of protection and preservation of the national forest heritage, as stated in a press release from this department.

Thus, the sites concerned are those that are close to the Témara forest and the Rabat Green Belt, and particularly in the neighborhoods of Dar Essalam and Hay Riad (sectors 23 and 24). With confinement and the state of health emergency, it is difficult for the agents of the Water and Forests Department to have a regular program of battues and under the required conditions in order to prevent wild boars from roaming. Thus, the provincial directorate of Water and Forests of Rabat has proceeded, in coordination with the local authorities, to install movable wild boar traps in the sites where these animals have been frequently observed.

The effectiveness of this capture method has been demonstrated in several areas of the kingdom where it has been tested. It has made it possible to capture 36 wild boars in the Hay Riad and Dar Essalam areas. The operation will last throughout the health confinement period. Aware of the inconvenience caused by wild boars, the Department of Water and Forests has duplicated the protocol in several areas of the kingdom affected by this phenomenon.