Baffled over wild boar rescue

The team on board the SNSM (sea rescue centre) of Cros-de-Cagnes life boat spent a good hour trying to lasso the animal, which turned out to be a female, and to bring her on board. They had to physically hold her down for several hours until a vet could be found to give advice on how to administer a sedative to calm her down and get her into a cage.

Weighing a hefty 80 kg the swimmer finally fell asleep and appeared to have been taken into care by the GSA (Groupement de sauvetage animalier dedicated to saving wild animals) based in Bar-sur-Loup.

It was a heart-warming story of man pulling out all the stops to rescue a wild animal in distress – at least it was until news came in that after all those efforts the plucky female had been shot. The explanation given was that they could not risk the boar escaping into an urban environment, hence the decision to rescue her in the first place, and that once anaesthetised she would have had to have been kept for at least a week until the drug had worn off before being released into the wild. Zoos it seems are not really set up to take animals in this situation and as wild boars are not a protected species the decision was taken to put her down.

Why she was in the sea and where she was going remains a mystery, her death unnecessary after all the trauma she had been through. CL