Reproductive potential of free-living wild boar in Central Europe
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Reproductive potential of free-living wild boar in Central Europe Jakub Drimaj 1
&
Jiří Kamler 1 & Martin Hošek 2 & Radim Plhal 1 & Ondřej Mikulka 1 & Jaroslav Zeman 1 & Karel Drápela 3
Received: 23 December 2019 / Revised: 5 August 2020 / Accepted: 17 August 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The population of wild boar has rapidly increased over the past decades in many environments. Climate changes, changes in agricultural policy orientation, and, for example, insufficient hunting and predation pressure on the wild boar have made it one of the key species of the 21st century in Europe. Currently, the biggest threat related to the distribution and abundance increasing of wild boar in Europe is their contribution to spreading of African swine fever (ASF) disease. In order to prevent the spread of ASF and its consequences, it is essential to reduce the population of the wild boar to the lowest possible level. The rate of reduction required depends on the initial population size and the population recruitment rate. These are affected, among other factors, by the carrying capacity of the environment, the provision of artificially supplied foods, and feeding at baiting sites, to assist hunting. This study evaluated the reproductive potential of wild boar populations in the Czech Republic, across a range of environmental conditions. The environment significantly affected the physical condition of piglets, yearlings, and adult sows. In lower-quality environments, piglets entered puberty earlier than in higher-quality environments. Pregnancy has been reported in piglets from the age of 7 months. The average litter size was 4.08 for piglets, 5.83 for yearlings, and 7.01 for adult sows. The sex ratio of piglets was affected by the body condition of the mother. The reproductive potential of the current Central European wild boar population is high. This study showed that approximately 95% of females will be impregnated during the non-vegetative season. An average increment of 5 piglets per female, or 3 piglets per wild boar who survived the winter, can be expected. Keywords Sus scrofa . Reproduction . Environment . Body condition . Litter size . Puberty
Introduction The population of the European wild boar Sus scrofa has rapidly increased over the past decades. The increase is noticeable in areas of their natural habitat and in areas to which they have been introduced (Frauendorf et al. 2016; Massei et al. 2015). Nowadays, in many areas, wild boars live in population densities of more than one specimen per square kilometer (e.g., Hebeisen et al. 2008), and their population * Jakub Drimaj [email protected] 1
Department of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno (Mendelu), Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
2
Department of Animal Breeding, Faculty of AgriSciences, Mendel University in Brno (Mendelu), Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
3
Department of Forest Management and App
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