Alarm in Ansbach: wild boar traps against African swine fever!

Alarm in Ansbach: wild boar traps against African swine fever!

In a dramatic training to combat the African swine plague (ASP), the Veterinary Office Ansbach tested modern wild boar traps in a forest near Schalkhausen. This fatal animal disease, which is harmless to humans, has already raged in the Rhine-Main area as well as in Brandenburg and Saxony. The ASP has so far failed to materialize in Bavaria, but the authorities are preparing for an emergency. "We want to be prepared for everything," explains Ralf Zechmeister, head of the Ansbach veterinary office.

The traps that were purchased to the animal disease defense are used in areas where the ASP has already broken out. The structure of the traps takes about 50 minutes in the test, but can be shortened to half an hour with practiced staff. In order to prevent the spread of the virus, infected wild boars must remain in the region. A fleeing wild boar could transport the virus over dozens of kilometers. In such cases, driven hunts are temporarily excluded, and walkers have to stay on the paths. The traps offer an alternative hunting method, in which the animals are initially attracted with food and then caught alive to enable undisturbed killing. More on this can be found in a report at www.br.de .