A 100-kilo wild boar caused terror in the Entrevías neighbourhood of Madrid as it ran through the streets “out of control.”
The Sus Scrofa saw emergency services receiving calls from 10.30am from “very scared” people in the Spanish capital trying to escape and hide from the animal, which was described as “out of control”.
In response, the police canine unit was activated. Several sedatives were fired at the adult wild boar from a distance but they had little or no effect due to officers not having suitable darts for the animal’s size.
Additionally, drones were deployed throughout the neighbourhood to better locate the animal, as it had become disoriented and posed a potential danger to pedestrians.
Despite administering three doses of tranquillisers, the boar managed to escape from a garden and travelled several miles. It then went into El Pozo Cercanias station. Two local officers went after him to try to avoid injuries to travellers.
“A very tense situation was generated, as he could hurt a citizen, get on the tracks… Action had to be taken,” police sources said.
One of the officers was rammed by the boar and another was bitten and taken to hospital to evaluate his condition and to assess if he needed a rabies vaccine.
Eventually, it was decided that there was no choice but to open fire and kill the boar to “avoid further damage”.
Videos and photographs of this event have surfaced on social media showing frightened people running in the opposite direction of the boar, screaming or getting into nearby portals as best they could.
“It was huge, very heavy… If he catches you he could cause serious damage,” said an eyewitness. Ten police cars and a helicopter to catch a wild boar… this only happens in Entrevías,” said another.
Investigations are underway to determine where the animal came from, but it is suspected that it may have wandered from a nearby forest park after becoming disoriented.
Although sightings of wild boar are not common, the appearance of these animals has been documented on certain occasions.
In the Community of Madrid, the wild boar population has grown significantly in recent decades. In the Madrid region, it was estimated that in 2022 there were around 20,000 wild boars, with higher concentrations in the rural and forest areas of the Sierra de Guadarrama and the Regional Park of the Middle Course of the Guadarrama River.
The lack of natural predators, the availability of food in urban areas and the ability of wild boar to adapt to different environments has led to their expansion and presence in urban areas with increasing frequency.
A recent study has also suggested that wild boars roaming around Spain and Portugal can transmit a parasite which affects humans.
The parasite Blastocystis can cause gastrointestinal problems in both animals and humans. Over 15 percent of the wild boars analysed in the study were infected with the parasite, with higher rates in Portuguese boars (34.3 percent) than their Spanish counterparts (10 percent).
