The Hunting Department of Primorsky Krai with the support of the Amur Tiger Center has started the vaccination of wild boars against classical swine fever.
The vaccination will be carried out in hunting farms of Primoryski Krai, where artificial feeding is conducted at the expense of hunting facilities with the support of the Amur Tiger Center. The Amur Tiger Center paid for 20 kg of the vaccine against classical swine fever. These activities are conducted by the department of hunting control and hunting facilities, under the supervision of the Veterinary Service of Primorsky Krai.
It is known that the number of hoofed animals is the basic factor affecting the number of Amur tigers and Amur leopards in the Russian Far East as it is the basic prey of these rare predators. The boar plays a special part in the ration of the Amur tiger.
Classical swine fever is one of the most dangerous diseases of boars, which can kill up to 80% of their population. Mass disease occurs at a large gathering of animals which may take place under unfavorable environmental conditions and lack of food. Swine fever hot spot do exist In Primorsky Krai and they may pose a threat.
"In the past two years the number of wild boars in Primorsky Krai has increased due to the crop of cedar and oak, but this year the fodder situation is unfavorable and cubs likely will not survive the winter. There also will be a lot of weakened animals. Fortunately, there is not much snow. The vaccination at 15-20 places of a huge region probably does not give a 100% guarantee, but it will create high immune barrier zones in the areas of high boar population, which will limit the spread of epizootic"- noted director of the Primorsky branch the Amur Tiger Center Sergey Aramilev.