Watch: Wild boars wandering into Cartagena will be caught and shot
Repeated incursions into residential areas are causing concern for locals and authorities
Wild boars in parks on Avenida Nueva Cartagena on August 29
Cartagena City Hall is reportedly preparing a plan to tackle the problem of wild boars straying into neighbourhoods in the west of the city at night.
More sightings have been reported since a video went viral of a group of eight wild boars running around in the middle of the Nueva Cartagena neighbourhood during the first week of August.
These include in the neighbourhoods of La Concepción, La Vaguada and San José Obrero.
Most recently, a group of about 10 including adults and a few young were seen around the Cartagonova stadium, an area where many residents go for walks.
Discussions are underway with the Region of Murcia Environment Department about how to capture the animals.
They have said that the only viable solution involves setting traps, but for these to work they are first studying the animals’ behaviour by placing bait.
This initial phase can take around 10 days before the traps can be installed. European legislation requires the animals to be culled once trapped, as relocation is not permitted.
After being put down, the carcasses have to be taken to an authorised waste management facility. City Hall is currently identifying suitable, safe locations for the traps.
Wild boar are common in areas of Cartagena such as Calblanque, Lo Poyo, El Carmolí, and Escombreras.
In February last year, the regional government organised a cull, at City Hall’s request, in collaboration with the Murcia Regional Hunting Federation and agricultural association COAG Murcia, resulting in the death of 83 animals, most of them female.
This sort of action is usually requested by farmers, whose crops are often damaged by these animals.
However, the spread of wild boar in urban areas continues to grow across the country, due to lack of food in their natural habitat and the absence of predators.
They move about freely at night when there is not much traffic and are drawn to food waste, grassy parks, and irrigated areas.
Wild boar do not generally attack humans unprovoked, but they can become dangerous if they feel cornered or if someone gets too close to a sow with piglets. It is therefore advised not to approach them – especially with a dog – not to feed them, and to contact emergency services if one is spotted.
Animal rights political party PACMA recently criticised what it called "a contradiction in public policies" affecting wild boar in the Region of Murcia.
They argued that while the authorities present the situation "as a problem of overpopulation, practices that contribute to it are still being allowed".
An estimated 13,000 wild boar are hunted each year in the Region of Murcia. However, regional and national legislation continues to permit the restocking of wildlife for hunting purposes, under the pretext of ensuring the "sustainable availability" of game animals and preserving supposed "rural traditions".
PACMA proposes alternatives based on scientific and ethical principles: banning wildlife restocking for hunting, strengthening habitat protection, implementing non-lethal population control programmes, and promoting realistic and respectful coexistence with wild animals.
Images: Asociación de Vecinos Nueva Cartagena / Facebook
Address
C/Regidor Cayetano Gago S/N 30100 Espinardo Murcia ESPANA Tel: (+34)968 368 200
Terra Natura Murcia, wildlife and adventure water park in the outskirts of the city of Murcia
Terra Natura Murcia is one of the most important and spectacular animal and nature parks in western Spain, and is one of a new generation of wildlife parks in which visitors can discover the concept of what's called "Zooinmersión."
The aim of this is recreate a habitat which gives an experience of being at one with the wildlife viewed in the park, so to this end more than 500 examples of 50 species of vegetation have been interplanted among the animal habitats, spread across an area occupying more than 165,000 square metres.
The planting has matured to create a comfortable and interesting environment which enhances the interaction between visitors and animals.
The planting not only softens the landscape, but also enables visitors to be closer to the animals and have direct human contact rather than the traditional forms of wildlife park where the animals are at a distance behind physical barriers.
The park contains over 500 animals belonging to 50 different species (some of which are in grave danger of extinction), alongside giraffes, lions, hippopotamus, lemurs, brown bears, Iberian lynx, Oryx, Iberian wolves and a White African Rhinoceros.
Throughout the year, Terra Natura Murcia offers different educational talks during visits to their facilities: giraffes, brown bears and otters.
One of the most popular areas is the falconry zone, where the displays enable visitors to discover the beauty of a great variety of birds such as the majestic flight of the peregrine falcon, which reaches diving speeds of over 300 km an hour, the eagle owl, various types of hawk, the griffon vulture and the buzzard eagle. One of the main aims of the park is to encourage contact and engage in interaction between animals and humans, and the falconry is a popular means of achieving this goal.
Among the mammals are Iberian and European Lynx, Mouflon and Coatis.
Aqua Natura Water park
During the summer Terra Natura opens Aqua Natura, the only water park in the Region of Murcia.
This is a refreshing and enjoyable way to cool down in the heat of summer, with swimming pools for adults and children, slides and shoots, kamikazes, lazy river, entertainment and games for youngsters, all within just a short distance of the centre of the city of Murcia.
Opening hours 2024
Terra Natura Murcia is open every day of the year except 1st January and 25th December.
The wildlife park opens at 10.00 in the morning, and during the summer (June 23rd to September 8th) it opens at 11.00.
The water park opens from May 25th to September 8th, at 11.00
Closing times are as follows:
January 2nd – March 15th: 17.00, except weekends in February and March (18.00).
March 16th – May 24th: 18.00, except weekends in April and May (19.00).
May 25th – June 16th: 19.00.
June 17th – September 8th: 20.00.
NB: During the summer special nocturnal tours and meals are available. See what's on section for latest promotions.
September 9th – September 15th: 19.00.
September 16th – October 25th: 18.00, except weekends in September and October (19.00).
October 28th – December 31st: 17.00, except weekends in November (18.00).
Details of daily activities can be found here: extra activities and special offers are regularly updated on Murcia Today.
Click here for online bookings
How to get there
Terra Natura is located in the northern outskirts of the city of Murcia in Espinardo, accessed via the A-7 motorway.
Address: Calle Regidor Cayetano Gago, 30100, Espinardo, Murcia
From the A-7 Murcia to Alicante, exit 136, Universidad de Murcia
From the Autovia A-7 Alicante to Murcia, exit 762b, Murcia centro
By Bus
From central Murcia. Bus line number 31 leaves from Plaza Cruz Roja via Gran Via and passes by the park, from Monday to Saturday every half hour and on Sunday every hour.
Line 39A, leaves from the railway station from Monday to Friday every 15 minutes
Line 39C leaves from Infante Juan Manuel (Pio Baroja) from Monday to Friday every 30 minutes.
