For the first time, a wild boar has been spotted in Parc de Woluwe in the municipality of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, confirmed the Brussels Environment agency following a report from a local resident on Monday morning.
A local resident filmed the wild boar in the park around 06:20 on Monday and posted the video on Facebook. He also reported it to Brussels Environment, director Stéphane Vanwijnsberghe of the Forest and Nature Department confirmed to Bruzz.
"It is a wild boar on the move, perhaps from the Tervuren Arboretum or the Sonian Forest nearby. It will not stay in the park," he said. His team will check the animal's tracks on Monday to figure out whether it is an adult or young boar and whether it is a male or female.
"Very likely it came to eat beechnuts, acorns or mushrooms in the park for a while, but there is no cause for concern."
Increase in wild boar population
The reassurance from the Forest and Nature Department is good news for some dog owners who regularly come to the park. Some of them already said that they would seek advice from Brussels Environment on how to behave when they unexpectedly come across a wild boar.
This is the first time a wild boar has been sighted in the Parc de Woluwe, but there have been similar reports in Auderghem and elsewhere in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Vanwijnsberghe said.
"They are always covert observations of animals that do not stay on site," he said. "However, the number of wild boars in both Walloon and Flemish Brabant has been increasing in recent years. This is in line with a general increase in the wild boar population across Europe. We have to wait and see how that evolves in Brussels."
