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<\/a>\n\t\tWild boars in a residential area in the northern city of Haifa on December 5, 2019 (Menahem Kahana \/ AFP)<\/p>\n
Going hog wild<\/p>\n
Haifa, built on the heavily forested slopes of Mount Carmel, has long struggled with wild boars venturing out of the natural ravines and into residential neighborhoods to forage for trash and pet food \u2014 often tearing up public parks, blocking roads, and terrifying locals in the process.<\/p>\n
The joint project of the INPA and the Haifa municipality to reduce friction between residents and the city\u2019s boars was launched in the summer of 2021, during the term of the previous mayor, Einat Kalisch-Rotem. It was supposed to run for five years, but in practice ended after a little more than four.<\/p>\n
The ambitious project sought to implement an interdisciplinary approach to solving the problem, based on the understanding among professionals that only a combination of several measures could reduce the friction between people and wildlife.<\/p>\n
The work plan included blocking wild boars\u2019 access from the wooded ravines into neighborhoods using fences and gates; increasing garbage bin collection and securing the bins so that the boars could not turn them over; banning the public from feeding boars; and also changing the way cats were fed (since the boars had become their dining partners).<\/p>\n
\t The final component of the plan, and the most explosive one, is shooting boars defined as \u201crogue,\u201d meaning those that have already become accustomed to human surroundings and are not afraid of people.<\/p>\n During Kalisch-Rotem\u2019s tenure, the emphasis was on the initial parts of the plan, but implementation was weak, and so were the results. During his election campaign in 2023, current Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav threw around promises of a \u201ctotal victory,\u201d declaring that within 90 days of taking the mayor\u2019s seat, he would make the boars disappear from Haifa.<\/p>\n And indeed, from the moment Yahav returned to office in early 2024, he charged into the task. His project manager on the issue, David Luria, was appointed the municipality\u2019s director general. But according to a state comptroller\u2019s report published last year, the municipality under Yahav focused mainly on one line of action: shooting boars.<\/p>\n According to the comptroller\u2019s report, while in 2022 the municipality issued 410 fines to residents for feeding boars or feeding cats in violation of the guidelines, in 2024, under Yahav\u2019s rule, only 126 such fines were issued.<\/p>\n The ombudsman further found that, despite the municipality\u2019s commitment to the INPA to increase the frequency of emptying garbage bins, since Yahav took office in April 2024, \u201cthe rate of garbage bins that were not emptied was considerably higher than in comparable periods in previous years \u2014 1,592 bins in April\u2013July 2024 compared to 886 in the corresponding period in 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same time, the number of boar shootings soared.<\/p>\n Whereas under the previous city administration, the number of boars killed each month was in the single digits, in May 2024, 204 boars were shot dead in Haifa\u2019s streets. In June, that number was 104. From then on, the pace gradually moderated, down to 10\u201312 in the final months of 2025.<\/p>\n In the short term, the shootings, combined with the infrastructure work already carried out in the previous term, proved effective.<\/p>\n But at the end of 2025, the INPA withdrew from the project, and the Haifa municipality was alone on the frontline against the boars, which some find very worrying.<\/p>\n A decision to \u2018move on\u2019<\/p>\n The dedicated inspector preferred not to be interviewed.<\/p>\n Dr. Amit Dolev, the Northern District ecologist for the INPA, who accompanied the project, believes the concern is unfounded: \u201cThe entire project was defined as a five-year project. It turned out that at the end of December, we had completed almost four and a half years, and we reached the conclusion that we had exhausted the process and ended it by mutual understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n \t \u201cThis project was intended to give the municipality backing and tools to work correctly so that it could continue on its own, and we reached a reasonable situation \u2014 I won\u2019t say excellent \u2014 in terms of friction with the boars, which allowed us to move on,\u201d he said, adding that, \u201cThe only thing we can do is make sure they are shooting in accordance with the permits. On all the other components of the project, they said they would continue, but we cannot hold their hand.\u201d<\/p>\n Some residents and animal welfare activists have claimed that the shooting is indiscriminate and that there is no way to make sure only \u201crogue\u201d boars are being shot.<\/p>\n Dolev claims that, \u201cThere is no basis to the claims that things have spun out of control. Indeed, we are no longer compiling a detailed report every month as we did before, but I am not aware that the overall picture has changed,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \t Asked if he views the five-year project as a success, Dolev said: \u201cWe have reliable indicators that point to an 80-90 percent decline in friction, and to major improvement in the sanitation components as well. What did not take off was public internalization regarding the need to stop feeding them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn the ecological aspect, we achieved decent results, but not in the public aspect,\u201d he said. \u201cThe municipality\u2019s hardest task is dealing with the public, and this is not easy for them. In my opinion, that is the weak point that could bring everything down and return the situation to a bad place. This sort of friction exists in many places \u2013 in Barcelona, Warsaw and Hong Kong \u2014 and in Rome, the mayor is said to have lost the election because of the boars. We are not alone in this.\u201d<\/p>\n A source in the field of nature conservation, who spoke with The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity, sees things differently.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the mayor changed, the policy changed,\u201d he said. \u201cUnder Kalisch-Rotem, there was much talk and little action. Yahav made it very clear that, as far as he was concerned, the solution was shoot-shoot-shoot, and everything else was less important. But it must be understood that if all the other components of the plan are not carried out, there will be no solution, and there will be a need to keep shooting all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n\t\tA wild boar trying to access a garbage bin in a public garden in Haifa, April 2, 2024 (RnDmS\/iStock)<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n\t\tA Haifa resident interacting with a wild boar in a public garden, in Haifa, March 30, 2024 (RnDmS\/iStock)<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n\t\tWild boars that were poisoned to death in Nesher, on the outskirts of Haifa. (Oren Chen\/Israel Nature and Parks Authority)<\/p>\n