Autumn-winter diet and fat reserves of wild boars (Sus scrofa) inhabiting forest and forest-farmland environment in south-western Poland

Abstract

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Carcass weight, condition and reproduction of wild boar harvested in north‐western Poland

“…An enormous increase in the area of cereal crops in particular (a 20‐fold increase in the area of these crops in 50 years), and also the practice of placing corn seeds at baiting stations and feeding sites by hunters, has resulted in an expansion of reproduction in wild boar in most years. These results reflect those reported in a number of publications from Poland and other European countries , . Earlier participation of piglets in reproduction, and the birth of litters in the summer and autumn, may adversely affect the quality of the population.…”

The influence of environmental and physiological factors on the litter size of wild boar ( Sus scrofa ) in an agriculture dominated area in Germany

“…Although Schley and Roper (2003) argued that mast is preferred above agricultural crop and supplementary food, an additional stable food supply provided by crop fields and supplementary feeding on game feeding places may buffer the negative impact of bad mast years and help to keep a high reproduction (Bieber and Ruf, 2005;Cellina, 2008;Rosell et al, 2012). Merta et al (2014) compared diet, carcass weight, and kidney fat of wild boar in two different areas: a forest-farmland environment and a large compact forest area. Kidney fat and weight of piglets and older animals were higher in the forest-farmland environment.…”

Effect of age and feeding area on meat quality of wild boars

“…The grains found in the stomach of wild boars from farmland were mainly represented by corn; it is supposed that in autumn wild boars can consume the remnants of food plants left on unplugged fields where crops had earlier been harvested (Merta et al 2014), furthermore, it is necessary to consider the widespread practice of artificial provisioning by hunters, with the aim of attracting wild boar to particular areas, or sometimes, reducing the damage that they inflict on agricultural crops (Vassant & Breton 1986). Since the food provided by hunters is usually cereals (in most cases, corn) it is often impossible to know whether cereals found in the stomachs of wild boar result from raiding of crops or from deliberate provisioning.…”

“…Half-litre samples were taken from the stomach content and analysed as described by Merta et al (2014). The diet of the wild boar was calculated as percentage of dry matter of each food categories or fraction to the total weight of all food items.…”