In the Grieu district, in Rouen (Seine-Maritime), residents occasionally coexist with annoying neighbors: wild boars. “At the moment, we don’t see them too much anymore. But a few months ago, one of my neighbors had a female with her babies who came into her garden,” assures Raymond, who lives not far from the MJC in the area.
In other towns in the metropolitan area, animals also make notable appearances from time to time, such as in Sotteville-lès-Rouen where in the middle of the night four wild boars were filmed by a local resident at the beginning of February. Or in Mont-Saint-Aignan, around the university campus bordered by woods, where their traces are often visible.
A situation well known by the Rouen municipal services as explained by the deputy for public peace, Kader Chekhemani: “It is a recurring situation in Hauts de Rouen and in Grieu, but which is increasing because their population is in decline. increase and that they have started to adopt their habits in urban or peri-urban areas, as close as possible to homes.
However, he puts the scale of the phenomenon into perspective, without denying it. “Obviously, this relatively unusual presence, when relayed on social networks, is more visible. What is certain is that where they find food, where they feel relatively comfortable, they tend to come back regularly, and that becomes problematic. Especially since the babies born in these areas will find it completely natural to settle there.”
Because obviously conflicts of use between man and animal exist, with damage caused in gardens in particular: turned over lawn, trampled gardens, degraded fences… More worrying, fears for the safety of the population exist, in particular when their presence is reported near educational establishments such as the Grieu vocational high school or the Marot elementary school even recently. “When we know they are in the area, we don’t really want to enjoy the garden, especially in the evening,” confirms Raymond.
Because as Cyril Teillet, deputy head of the environment department at the Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea of Seine-Maritime, who is following this issue, explains, “even if it remains a wild animal which most of the time seeks to avoid company of the man, if he feels in danger, without an escape route, if he is injured or if a mother wants to protect her young, we cannot exclude that he represents a threat. Not to mention the risk of collision with vehicles when moving.
The City, in coordination with the prefecture, has taken initial measures to try to stem the phenomenon. Barriers, solid and buried deeply, were installed in the Grieu district. Another, more than a kilometer long, is being studied in the Lombardy sector to try to cut off the flows through which the animals travel. “We study the best places with specialists to see where it is relevant to place them,” continues Kader Chekhemani, who is aware that this solution, relatively expensive, is not sufficient. Especially since it often involves an agreement between several municipalities to be effective.
“The question becomes sensitive”
A “trap” cage must be acquired to try to capture a certain number of individuals. But what to do with it? Because this is where the question becomes sensitive. “There are contradictory injunctions between the protection of populations and that of wildlife,” notes Cyril Teillet, without wanting to go further. Between the proponents of firmer regulation which consists of killing specimens which have taken their mark near inhabited areas and the defenders of the animal cause opposed to any gunshot, the positions are clear-cut.
In 2018, a regulation operation was carried out around Grand-Mare and the Lombardy sector during which 12 wild boars were killed during this administrative raid supervised by the district’s wolf lieutenant. But since then the municipality has preferred to avoid going to such extremes. “We are in a difficult balance to find,” admits the public peace deputy who must deal with his environmentalist colleagues within the municipal majority on this issue. “There is obviously no question of shooting blindly at everything that moves. But our responsibility is also to guarantee the safety of our citizens.” Almost a concrete illustration of the difference between the good hunter and the bad hunter…