Authorities may cull wild Berlin boars after recent incidents

The Post Millennial recently reported on a hilarious incident involving a nude man chasing down a boar to get his laptop back. This is the sow in question, with her two little piglets. Mama boar and baby boars ate a pizza from a man's laptop bag, and then grabbed the bag and tried to make off with it.

No humans or boars were harmed, and the laptop was eventually recovered, but the fame of these animals has brought them notoriety and made them marked creatures.

As a matter of fact, the young boar family struck again the very next day, snatching food from three students who were otherwise enjoying the park.

The concern is primarily over how comfortable the boars have gotten among humans, which could lead to further incidents with the boars being ever more bold and aggressive in their actions.

Katja Kammer, Berlin's chief forest ranger, commented in an interview with RBB in Germany, "This wild boar and her two young are frequent visitors at Teufelssee. They phlegmatically forage in broad daylight over the grass looking for food wherever there are bathers. They have lost any instinct of shyness. It's only luck that, to date, nothing serious has happened."

In addition, there is some concern over potential diseases the boars can carry, which in some instances may be transmissible to humans.

Under the laws of Berlin and Germany, it's illegal to kill a sow with piglets until they are all at least six months old, so as of now, it's a waiting game for "Elsa," as she has been dubbed by local animal lovers.

In fact, a petition has circulated—which to date has garnered over 9,000 signatures—in favor of sparing Elsa and her yet to be named progeny. There has been at least one protest as well. The petition calls for "peaceful coexistence" between humans and animals in the Teufelssee.

The measures put in place to control the coronavirus may be to blame for the emboldening of wildlife all over Germany, and indeed, all over the planet. There was another incident in a German town where four people were injured in a wild boar rampage.