[News Today] USING DRONES TO HUNT BOARS

[LEAD]
In mountainous regions, wild boars continue to ravage seasonal crops. Capturing these boars has grown more challenging since the outbreak of African swine fever. But now, tracking drones are emerging as a viable solution.

[REPORT]
A wild ginseng farm in Gangwon-do Province shows patches of soil dug up throughout the field.

There are hardly any traces of carefully grown ginseng.

Wild boars are the prime suspects.

Soundbytes: They dug here and ate them all.

This ginseng farmer suffered a loss in the market value of over one billion won, or about 740,000 U.S. dollars.

Lee Yu-jin/ KBS Reporter
The ginseng field is now filled with wild boar footprints the size of an adult's fist.

Double or triple layers of nets were not enough to stop the boars.

Jo Jae-hun/ Ginseng farmer
I felt safe after putting up several nets, but they came back to feed again.

It's not easy to capture them either.

Hunting dogs are needed for tracking wild boars, but their use has been banned in Gangwon-do Province due to concerns about spreading African swine fever.

Hunter/ (VOICE MODIFIED)
If hunting dogs are not used, the success rate falls by at least five to seven times.

As a result, only about 5,000 boars were caught in Gangwon-do Province last year, not even half the number recorded five years ago.

Experts suggest using thermal imaging drones.

Choi Jin-ho/ Korea Wild Animal, Plant service
Drones track boars instead of hunting dogs, making it easier to catch more of them.

The Wildlife Management Association has found that using thermal imaging drones increases the success rate of catching wild boars by 4.3 times.