Genetic population structure defines wild boar as an urban exploiter species in Barcelona, Spain

Assessing the epidemiological risk at the human-wild boar interface through a one health approach using an agent-based model in Barcelona, Spain

“…WB synurbization increased the probability of Swb feeding on ASF-contaminated anthropogenic food resources [ 12 ] (section C.1 Initialization of O.D.D. protocol in Supplementary material 1), and favoured rapid ASFV spread within the WB population with a high transmission rate due the high CNP WB population density [ 38 , 48 ], the low migration between CNP and other areas [ 26 ], and the increased contact rates due to aggregation induced by anthropogenic food resources [ 15 , 16 , 20 ]. As in other ASF outbreaks, WB carcasses were the main source of transmission, enhancing ASFV survival, attracting WB, and increasing their exposure to the virus [ 9 , 33 , 37 , 50 ].…”

“…The synurbic WB from the 80 km 2 Natura 2000 Collserola Natural Park (CNP), located within the MAB, are attracted by anthropogenic food resources to the ( peri )urban area [ [10] , [11] , [12] , 17 , 23 , 25 ], where they contact with the urban environment and human citizens. Urban development and transport networks limit genetic exchange between the WB in CNP using the ( peri )urban area of Barcelona and their rural counterparts [ 26 ], although WB move in and out of the CNP using riparian areas and dry riverbeds as corridors [ 10 , 26 ]. Previous studies on the WB population in the MAB have detected zoonotic hepatitis E virus (HEV) [ 8 ], Streptococcus suis [ 6 ], tick-borne pathogens such as Rickettsia spp.…”

The Boar War: Five Hot Factors Unleashing Boar Expansion and Related Emergency

“…All the discussed arguments must be interpreted taking into account not only the reciprocal synergistic effects, but also the extremely adaptable nature of the wild boar [233]. In fact, optimisation of biological traits and niche conservatism are arguably [51,[234][235][236][237] among the main factors allowing a species to invade different areas across the globe [238,239].…”

Behavioural responses to temporal variations of human presence: Insights from an urban adapter

“…Wild boar is an omnivorous generalist species that is expanding globally (Brook & van Beest, 2014; Keuling et al., 2016; Massei et al., 2015) increasingly present in urban areas where it mostly relies on anthropogenic food (Cahill et al., 2012; Castillo‐Contreras et al., 2021; Podgórski et al., 2013; Stillfried et al., 2017). Its presence in urban habitats is the cause of a wide variety of conflicts with humans, including damage to public and private properties, traffic accidents, disease transmission, and even attacks on pets and humans (Castillo‐Contreras et al., 2022; Hagemann et al., 2022). As a consequence, comparisons between rural and urban populations of wild boar are increasingly present in literature, highlighting behavioural (Castillo‐Contreras et al., 2021, Podgórski et al., 2013, Stillfried et al., 2017) and even genetic differentiations (Hagemann et al., 2022; Zsolnai et al., 2022).…”

“…Its presence in urban habitats is the cause of a wide variety of conflicts with humans, including damage to public and private properties, traffic accidents, disease transmission, and even attacks on pets and humans (Castillo‐Contreras et al., 2022; Hagemann et al., 2022). As a consequence, comparisons between rural and urban populations of wild boar are increasingly present in literature, highlighting behavioural (Castillo‐Contreras et al., 2021, Podgórski et al., 2013, Stillfried et al., 2017) and even genetic differentiations (Hagemann et al., 2022; Zsolnai et al., 2022). Nonetheless, to the best of our knowledge, no study investigated the behavioural responses exhibited by wild boar individuals facing strong temporal variations in human presence and disturbance (excluding hunting).…”