Lynx suspected of having killed over 200 wild boars on farm in Eastern Finland

Lynx lynx, the Eurasian lynx

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Entrepreneur Jukka Puustinen from the Villieläinmaa ("Wild Life Land") wild boar farm in Northern Savo says that lynx have managed to kill and eat no fewer than 217 piglets of the 264 offspring from last spring on the farm.
      In addition, a sow and a boar have also been mauled, and an yearling piglet just last weekend.
      Not a trace of the animals that met their end in the claws of the predators has been found, however. Wild boars are carrion animals and according to the owner they can eat the remains of the dead members of their herd.
     
The disappearance of the animals was first reported by the Kuopio-based Savon Sanomat daily. To get compensation from the government for the killed swine, however, evidence is required in the same fashion as in cases with reindeer taken by wolves.
      According to Puustinen, the damage is so severe that the future of the farm - located in Varpaisjärvi, north of Kuopio - is now at stake.
      Aside from the wild boars, the farm currently also houses half a dozen bison, and fenced-in grazing enclosures await for red deer and fallow deer.
      The farm ranches around 250 wild boars, the enclosures of which are surrounded by a 2.3-metre wire-netting fence, the bottom of which extends underground.
     
Northern Savo game supervisor Jouni Tanskanen explains that the game preservation district is looking into the disappearance of the animals in close cooperation with the entrepreneur.
      With regard to one piglet, its cause of death may soon be uncovered. Its carcass was found and sent to the Finnish Food Safety Authority (Evira) for examination.
      According to Tanskanen, the province of Northern Savo’s lynx population is currently in the region of 210-220 individuals. This is the densest concentration of the animals anywhere in Finland.
      In addition, the region is thought to be home to half a dozen wolverines.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Wild boars enjoy food handouts near Russian border (12.12.2006)

Links:
  Eurasian Lynx (Wikipedia)
  Wolverine (Wikipedia)
  Villieläinmaa (apparently in Finnish only)

Helsingin Sanomat