Japanese Wild Boar with her babies
I will start this out with asking you, what word is missing from this article? That’s right, FERAL. These are wild animals in Nagasaki. The timing of this article is clever. The Government of Japan is showing a reason why the Fukushima pigs need to be culled. The issue that the Government of Japan’s Ministry of Environment ‘s Minister, Goshi Hosono, has with the pigs is that the pigs are causing damage to the Fukushima residents property. The only difference would be that the boars are wild and have not gone through what the Fukushima pigs have gone through to survive. The wild pigs are not domesticated and have plenty of food to scavenge. The domesticated pigs that were set free by their owners are not finding cultivated farmer’s fields to eat. The boar are not subject, yet, to a ” take no survivors” culling campaign. Their domesticated cousins are enduring an outright slaughter fest, like the one happening in Fukushima. Did you think that the Government of Japan was not “euthanizing” animals anymore because its not in the news?
If you did think that, then you are wrong. The Government of Japan has never stopped ” euthanizing” animals in the Fukushima exclusion zone. They are catching and killing, I will not use this word, “euthanize” without the quotation marks, since ” euthanize” is not the correct word to use for the way these animals are killed. The Government of Japan would have you believe that these animals go down in the proper way that animals are supposed to be euthanized, but the eye-witness reports speak of animals struggling and in great pain before they finally die. And, it takes them awhile to die.
The Government of Japan does not discriminate, they will put down sows, mother pigs, and all of her babies. What is unsaid is how many do they take for their “radiation studies” ?
This is from NPO SALA NETWORK via e-mail :
In Minami-Souma City, over 100 cattle were killed in September – not only the cattle forced in the cattle barn, but also those cattle who were freed. Most of the cattle you can see in our website were already killed, I’m afraid.
Currently, the pigs are captured including baby pigs. They ran even faster than dogs. Big male pigs are also captured because they are dangerous (the government say). After the culling of the pigs, they are going to capture the remaining cattle.
http://www.salanetwork.or.jp/e_index.html
Personally, I think that the farmers in Nagasaki should learn to live with the wild animals and learn methods that will keep them from their crops. I don’t agree with hunting them.
‘Chief of boar affairs’ to fight damage by wild animals in Nagasaki
NAGASAKI — Authorities here have coined a new job position, “chief of boar affairs,” and employed an expert to fill it as part of the prefecture’s efforts to prevent persistent damage caused by the wild animals.
The “chief of boar affairs” will be responsible for suggesting and implementing specific measures to help the prefecture get rid of wild boar-inflicted damage that has become a serious nuisance to residents over the past few years. Duties will also include training of other officials, referred to as “A-level instructors,” for similar purposes.
Since 2004, when the prefecture suffered its greatest ever wild boar-inflicted agricultural losses of approximately 457 million yen, officials have implemented various countermeasures including relaxation of hunting regulations, and beginning in 2006 the appointment of wild animal specialists.
The misbehaving animals, however, have kept coming, causing an estimated 400 million yen in damages in fiscal 2010 — twice the previous year’s numbers.
“Learn to see things from a boar’s perspective,” Shigeki Hirata, the newly appointed “chief of boar affairs” advised aspiring “A-level instructors” during a September workshop in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture. Forty-eight people have thus far received “A-level instructor” certification in the training program, which began in fiscal 2009.
Pointing at an approximately 1-meter-high metal fence set up around a farm field near the workshop site, its top tilted outwards, Hirata reminded that a boar’s line of sight is estimated to be about 50 centimeters off the ground. According to his instructions, a tilted fence is more efficient than a straight one, not unlike stone walls surrounding castles that were built tilting outward to ward off rival samurai.
The 40-year-old Hirata, who studied wild boars at the graduate school of the University of Tsukuba, was appointed to the “boar chief” position on Sept. 1, after serving as an expert wildlife advisor to the prefecture.
“There is still a major lack of knowledge of how to prevent wild boar damage and manage protection fences,” Hirata argues. According to him, the animals are quick learners, and that relying on common theories — such as that boars fear cows and that creosol-scented bags chase them away — will in fact have the opposite effect.
Electric fences are also an option for keeping wild boars out, Hirata says, but they can become less effective if weeds grow around them, decreasing the voltage.
According to prefectural estimates, more than 70 percent of the 5,483 reports of agricultural damage inflicted by the animals during fiscal 2010 were from areas where no countermeasures had been taken. Moreover, approximately 60 percent of the sites had no protection fences.
“To prevent further damage we should expand correct measures and promote cooperation among residents,” the chief of boar affairs said.
(Mainichi Japan) October 30, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20111030p2a00m0na005000c.html
