Farmers lock and load for beastly attacker
Wild boars have attacked and injured two people in the union council of Bohar in Kambar-Shahdadkot.
KAMBAR SHAHDADKOT:
They refuse to refer to the animal by its name, or even look at it, because it’s “haraam”. But when it attacked and injured two people in the union council of Bohar in Kambar-Shahdadkot a day before Eid, villagers decided that the time had come to confront the wild boars.
The animal’s natural habitat is the riverine forest, but wild boar are also settled near the Hamal Lake. After the lake and its surrounding areas were inundated with water during the floods, the boars started moving towards fields where they could find grass and reptiles, their usual diet.
“I don’t have a gun, but I take my father’s double barrel when I visit my land,” said 28-year-old Mohammed Panah, a farmer in the Thorhi Bijar village. “You cannot imagine how dangerous the animal is. I have seen it twice over the past few days and had to climb a tree once, otherwise it would have killed me.”
Panah is not the only farmer who has been forced to carry a weapon while tending to his crop. After wild boars started roaming the fields in the area, farmers had no choice but to start carrying weapons, be they stick, axe or gun, every time they made their way to their land.
“Once, my elder brother and his son went to the fields to cut some fodder for the animals when they were attacked by a wild boar,” said 60-year-old Ali Hassan Bohar, a resident of the Bohar village. “They started running back to the village, but since the animal runs faster, it attacked them both. They are still being treated at the taluka hospital.”
According to Deedar Chandio, who used to hunt the animal, people send dogs to attack the boar whenever it appears on their turf. At least four to five dogs must be used to kill or injure one boar. “Even then, the wild boar is sometimes able to defeat all the dogs,” he said.
While the prospect of dealing with the animal inspired fear in most villagers, there were some who recounted memories of their confrontations with a certain amount of relish.
“I once killed a wild boar,” Ramaz Ali Chandio told The Express Tribune, not without a certain amount of pride. He saw the beast damaging his paddy crop while he was crossing the canal about three years ago. “I challenged him, and since it is a very brave animal it started running towards me in order to attack me. I had a sharp axe, which I used to kill him on the spot,” Chandio recounted enthusiastically.
“While you can easily lose your footing while fending off the boar, which runs very fast, the animal is at a disadvantage because it cannot move its neck,” Chandio added. You can prepare yourself for the confrontation when you see its tracks as it runs through the entire stretch of a field without turning left or right.
Noor Ahmed Mugheri has also come face to face with the menace. “It was Wednesday night. Someone came to tell me that a wild boar was damaging my paddy crop. I took my gun and emergency light and set off in search of it,” he said. “When I found a male boar on my field, I loaded my gun and it heard me. It was running towards me when I shot and killed him.” The threat has forced people to carry weapons at all times.
There are more than 4,000 wild boars in Sindh, according to wildlife conservator Hussain Bux Bhaghat. “They cannot be hunted in protective areas, like the game reserve, national parks or other environment friendly locations. But hunting it is not an offence in the non-protective areas.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2010.
They refuse to refer to the animal by its name, or even look at it, because it’s “haraam”. But when it attacked and injured two people in the union council of Bohar in Kambar-Shahdadkot a day before Eid, villagers decided that the time had come to confront the wild boars.
The animal’s natural habitat is the riverine forest, but wild boar are also settled near the Hamal Lake. After the lake and its surrounding areas were inundated with water during the floods, the boars started moving towards fields where they could find grass and reptiles, their usual diet.
“I don’t have a gun, but I take my father’s double barrel when I visit my land,” said 28-year-old Mohammed Panah, a farmer in the Thorhi Bijar village. “You cannot imagine how dangerous the animal is. I have seen it twice over the past few days and had to climb a tree once, otherwise it would have killed me.”
Panah is not the only farmer who has been forced to carry a weapon while tending to his crop. After wild boars started roaming the fields in the area, farmers had no choice but to start carrying weapons, be they stick, axe or gun, every time they made their way to their land.
“Once, my elder brother and his son went to the fields to cut some fodder for the animals when they were attacked by a wild boar,” said 60-year-old Ali Hassan Bohar, a resident of the Bohar village. “They started running back to the village, but since the animal runs faster, it attacked them both. They are still being treated at the taluka hospital.”
According to Deedar Chandio, who used to hunt the animal, people send dogs to attack the boar whenever it appears on their turf. At least four to five dogs must be used to kill or injure one boar. “Even then, the wild boar is sometimes able to defeat all the dogs,” he said.
While the prospect of dealing with the animal inspired fear in most villagers, there were some who recounted memories of their confrontations with a certain amount of relish.
“I once killed a wild boar,” Ramaz Ali Chandio told The Express Tribune, not without a certain amount of pride. He saw the beast damaging his paddy crop while he was crossing the canal about three years ago. “I challenged him, and since it is a very brave animal it started running towards me in order to attack me. I had a sharp axe, which I used to kill him on the spot,” Chandio recounted enthusiastically.
“While you can easily lose your footing while fending off the boar, which runs very fast, the animal is at a disadvantage because it cannot move its neck,” Chandio added. You can prepare yourself for the confrontation when you see its tracks as it runs through the entire stretch of a field without turning left or right.
Noor Ahmed Mugheri has also come face to face with the menace. “It was Wednesday night. Someone came to tell me that a wild boar was damaging my paddy crop. I took my gun and emergency light and set off in search of it,” he said. “When I found a male boar on my field, I loaded my gun and it heard me. It was running towards me when I shot and killed him.” The threat has forced people to carry weapons at all times.
There are more than 4,000 wild boars in Sindh, according to wildlife conservator Hussain Bux Bhaghat. “They cannot be hunted in protective areas, like the game reserve, national parks or other environment friendly locations. But hunting it is not an offence in the non-protective areas.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2010.