Wild boars damage graves, injure subway passenger in urban incidents

[Anchor]

As wild boars become more active in their foraging during the autumn season, damages are also increasing.

Dozens of graves have been dug up, and a wild boar even came down to an urban subway station, damaging facilities and biting a male passenger's arm, ultimately leading to its shooting.

Reporter Lee Hyung-kwan has the story.

[Report]

At a park cemetery in Geoje, Gyeongnam.

Large holes have appeared as if shells have fallen here and there.

The mounds that should be raised have disappeared without a trace.

It is presumed that wild boars living in the nearby mountains have dug them up in search of food.

[Shin Yong-il/Cemetery Manager: "(The boars) have been digging with their snouts. This too. This park cemetery has been established for 50 to 55 years, and this is the first time such an incident has occurred."]

These are the mounds damaged by the wild boars.

The grass covering the graves has been torn up significantly, and some areas have been dug so deeply that piles of dirt are now out.

More than 40 graves have been damaged.

[Jeong Hyeong-guk/Geoje City, Jangpyeong-dong: "This is my brother's grave. I was very shocked to see the state of the grave (that was damaged), and I felt helpless."]

Wild boars have also come down to urban subway stations.

They appeared on the platform and caused a ruckus for about an hour.

A man in his 30s was bitten on the arm, and facilities throughout the urban railway were damaged.

Attempts to capture it failed, and it was ultimately shot.

In the past two years and four months, there have been over 2,300 wild boar capture operations nationwide, concentrated in the autumn and early winter.

[Park Do-beom/Regional Director of the Wildlife Management Association, Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam: "(Wild boars) are very active in foraging before winter. It seems they lost their way while coming down from the mountains and ended up near urban areas."]

Experts advise that if you encounter a wild boar, do not turn your back but face it, quickly find a way to escape, and allow the boar to find its way out.

This is KBS News, Lee Hyung-kwan.