Wild boar behaviour during live-trap capture in a corral-style trap: implications for animal welfare
Publication Type: |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication: |
2020 |
Authors: |
Åsa Fahlman, Johan Lindsjö, Therese Arvén Norling, Petter Kjellander, Erik Olof Ågren, Ulrika Alm Bergvall |
Publication/Journal: |
Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica |
Keywords: |
3R, ethogram, health, hunting, management, refinement, stress, sus scrofa, trapping, wildlife |
ISBN: |
1751-0147 |
Abstract:
Wildlife traps are used in many countries without evaluation of their effect on animal welfare. Trap-capture of wild animals should minimise negative effects on animal welfare, irrespective of whether the animals are trapped for hunting, research, or management purposes. Live-trap capture of wild boar (Sus scrofa) followed by killing inside the trap by gunshot is a recently introduced but disputed hunting method in Sweden. Approval of trap constructions is based on gross necropsy findings of 20 trapped and shot wild boars. For improved animal welfare evaluation, our aim was to study wild boar behaviour during live-trapping in a 16 m2 square corral-style trap. Behavioural assessments were conducted after filming 12 capture events of in total 38 wild boars (five adults, 20 subadults, 13 piglets). Selected behavioural traits were compared with pathological changes (trap-related lesions) found at necropsy of the 20 subadults, to determine if these variables were useful proxies of capture-induced stress in wild boar.