Boar hunting ban renewed

Wild boars have been making the lives of Carmel residents miserable, scaring children and even adults.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
The city of Haifa has once again been prohibited from hunting the wild boars that are plaguing Mount Carmel after the "Let the Animals Live" organization appealed against the cull to the Haifa District Court, reports Yediot Haifa. The court renewed the ban on hunting and ordered the city to prepare a response within the next two weeks. According to the report, wild boars have been making the lives of Carmel residents miserable, scaring children and even adults who happen to see them, digging up private and public gardens, and damaging sprinkler systems and pipelines. The city and the Nature and Gardens Authority planned to initiate a controlled hunt to reduce the numbers of the animals last year, but Let the Animals Live turned to the Haifa Magistrates' court and obtained an injunction against a hunt, with a judge saying the city should try other methods first that would simply drive the pesky animals away. Soon afterward, the city and the authority asked the court to lift the ban, saying their attempts to drive the animals off were not working. A judge agreed to lift the ban, saying that even though the boars were not aggressive by nature, they still weighed 150 kg each and posed a public danger to pedestrians and to vehicles. But before any hunt could begin, Let the Animals Live appealed to the district court for an interim injunction against hunting, saying the city has not made any serious attempt to solve the problem in a less extreme way. Now the court has accepted the organization's arguments, renewing the ban and ordering the city to prepare a response within two weeks. A municipal spokesman said the animals were "a threat" to people and to property, and the city had tried other methods to solve the problem, but had not succeeded. The spokesman said the city was sure the court would lift the ban after hearing all the relevant information on the subject "and will allow the continuation of activities that aim only to guard safety, public health and other animals."