March 22, 2021

South Korea's wild boar population reduced to control ASF infections

South Korea has been carrying out intensive quarantine management in close cooperation with related ministries since the first reported outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in the country in September 2019.

To prevent the spread of ASF in wild boars, efforts have been made to reduce the wild boar population.

As a result of these comprehensive measures — such as installing fences and capturing wild boars — the national density of wild boars decreased from six animals/km2(October 2019) to 4.1/km2(October 2020). The density of wild boar populations in the large-area fence, which is an outbreak area, has been reduced from 6.9 animals/km2(October 2019) to 1.8 animals/km2(December 2020).

Since October 2019, a total of 160,453 wild boars have been removed nationwide (14,051 in 2021).

The South Korean government will continue to work to prevent the spread of ASF in wild boar through searches for wild boar carcasses, fence inspections and planning wild boar captures, according to the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

- Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (South Korea)