South Korea reduces wild boar population to slow ASF spread

From the time South Korea reported its first outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in September 2019, the government has been carrying out intensive quarantine management in close cooperation with related ministries. To prevent the spread of ASF in wild boars, efforts have been made to reduce the wild boar population.

As a result of these comprehensive measures, such as installing fences and capturing wild boars, the national density of wild boars decreased from 6 animals/km² (October 2019) to 4.1/km² (October 2020). The density of wild boar populations in the large-area fence, which is an outbreak area, has been reduced from 6.9 animals/km² (October 2019) to 1.8 animals/km² (December 2020).

Since October 2019, a total of 160,453 wild boars have been removed nationwide (14,051 in 2021).

The government will continue to work to prevent the spread of ASF in wild boar through searches for wild boar carcasses, fence inspections, and planning wild boar captures.

March 12, 2021/ Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs/ South Korea.
https://www.mafra.go.kr/