Wild boars all over Berlin: The animals conquer our streets!

Wild boars all over Berlin: The animals conquer our streets!

In Berlin, wild boars are currently in focus because their sightings in urban areas increase significantly. This is confirmed, among other things, by city nature expert Derk Ehlert. Although there are no official surveys on the stocks, a continuous increase in wild boar numbers has been observed for more than 60 years. Especially rainy years such as 2023 and 2024 contributed to the spread of these animals because they benefit from rich food. Another cause of the increase is intensive corn cultivation in the region. Wild boars are known as omnivores and mainly live in transition areas to the field landscape or the forest.

The animals are spotted particularly frequently in the Berlin districts of Heiligensee, Allendeviertel in the Treptow-Köpenick district, Lichterfelde-Steglitz and Zehlendorf-Süd. Derk Ehlert emphasizes that wild boars have not attacked a person in 25 years, unless they were exceptional situations, such as injured animals or conflicts with dogs. Currently the females, called browns, are particularly active because they get young and search for suitable hiding places near the settlement areas.

behavioral information in wild boar

In order to avoid conflicts, it is advisable to stand, to wait and speak loudly when sights of wild boars. Dogs should always be leased to avoid potential tensions. Feeds of the animals should be omitted because this can lead to increased presence in urban areas. Ehlert also warns of the illegal disposal of garden waste that attracts the wild boars and thus increases the frequency of their sights.

The increasing presence of wild boar is not just a locally limited phenomenon. As a study by the IZW Berlin shows, wild boars have developed stable populations in many European cities. This research notes that the settling of the landscape favors the immigration of large mammal species into urban areas. A genetic examination of over 400 wild boars in Berlin and Barcelona shows that urban wild boars are genetically different from rural populations and form their own clusters. These discoveries raise new questions about the settlement processes and networking between urban and rural populations.

In order to avoid future human wilderness conflicts, management strategies are required, which include both urban and rural areas. The differences in the genetic composition of the wild boars in different habitats are significant for the development of such strategies. Effective population management is therefore becoming increasingly important to protect both the animals and the people in the affected areas.