Wild Boar Boom: Animal Encroachment a Growing Concern for Rural Communities

The habitat of the wild boar rapidly recovered as Japan shifted to fossil fuels and the amount of land under tillage decreased after World War II.

A rice paddy destroyed by wild boars.

Damage from wild boars on an embankment of the Watarase River.

Boars show no fear of humans as they pass through the forest on Mount Rokkō.

A puddle created in a fallow rice paddy by a mud-bathing wild boar. There is increased risk of attack and disease as animals move closer to populated areas.

Smudges show where a wild boar tried to force open a sliding door of an abandoned Fukushima Prefecture home. Photo taken in May 2017.

A field with a protective fence in a Fukushima area where evacuation orders have been lifted. Residents have been slow to return, as can be seen by the neighboring abandoned plot, and measures must be made to keep boars from damaging crops and property.