Abstract
The impact of wild boar Sus scrofa and feral pigs on ecosystems and human activities is of interest worldwide. Bait-delivered pharmaceuticals such as contraceptives or disease vaccines are increasingly advocated to assist the management of such impacts. We evaluated the Boar-Operated-System (BOS™) to deliver baits to wild boar in a Mediterranean area with a large community of potential nontarget species. In a pre-trial phase (BOS™ open), both wild boar and 12 nontarget species (wildlife and livestock) visited the BOS™ and eight species consumed the baits. In the trial phase, when the BOS™ were closed, only wild boar consumed baits. From pre-trial to trial, the rate of visits by nontarget species to the BOS™ decreased significantly, but that of wild boar did not change. We observed that crested porcupines Hystrix cristata prevented the wild boar from using BOS™. We confirmed the effectiveness of BOS™ to deliver baits selectively to wild boar in a Mediterranean area.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the Maremma Regional Park Agency, for financial support, and the Terre Regionali Toscane Agency, for permission to work in its lands. We are greatly indebted to the MRP staff for logistic support and, especially to wardens P. Arrigucci, U. Boldorini, F. Fini, D. Germani, A. Gianni and L. Tonini for helping with field work. We thank A. Ward for comments to an earlier draft of our paper. Our MS was improved by comments of an anonymous reviewer.
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Ferretti, F., Sforzi, A., Coats, J. et al. The BOS™ as a species-specific method to deliver baits to wild boar in a Mediterranean area. Eur J Wildl Res 60, 555–558 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-014-0808-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-014-0808-1