Effects of human activities on the behaviour of wild boar

After the occurrence of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Belgium in 2018, the question of which control measures to implement in case of an ASF outbreak arose also in Switzerland. While hunting has been shown to increase wild boar movements and thus the risk of disease spread, the effect of forestry work and leisure activities in the forest on wild boar behavior is largely unknown. The goal of this study is to investigate the response of wild boar to different kinds of anthropogenic disturbances under Swiss conditions. Wild boar from different sounders will be fitted with GPS collars and tracked before, during, and after disturbance. The data will be analyzed in relation to landscape features and combined with National Forest Inventory (NFI) data to identify areas within and outside the study area with a high risk of disease transmission. The results will shed light on the behavior of wild boar in response to human activities and advice policy makers involved in ASF control.