Pohang City Makes All-Out Efforts to Block Wild Boars from Bringing African Swine Fever into the Area

Decrease in Population and Habitat Density... Continuous Operation of Damage Prevention Team for 유해야생동물 to Block Spread

Sterilization Treatment - Eco-friendly Recycling of Carcasses... No Cases Reported in Strictly Controlled Areas

Pohang City is making every effort to block the entry of African Swine Fever (ASF) carried by wild boars into the region.

Pohang City Hall.

African Swine Fever is a highly contagious disease in its acute form and is designated as a Class 1 livestock infectious disease. Since its first outbreak in Paju, Gyeonggi Province in 2019, the southward spread of the swine fever has increased the number of carcasses of wild birds subject to culling, raising concerns about difficulties in post-burial management and environmental pollution.

The city operates the "Wildlife Damage Prevention Team," consisting of 41 licensed hunters authorized by the Nam-gu and Buk-gu district offices, year-round to reduce the population and habitat density of wild boars and block African Swine Fever.

The wild boar carcasses captured by the Damage Prevention Team have been processed using the "rendering" method since 2020 to ensure safe disposal.

"Rendering" is an eco-friendly technology that physically and chemically grinds livestock carcasses, then sterilizes them under high temperature and pressure to separate oil and solids. The extracted components are recycled into products such as compost and feed.

Since 2020, Pohang City has invested over 220 million KRW, including national funds, in the cost of processing captured wild boar carcasses, thoroughly blocking the spread of African Swine Fever by rendering immediately after capture.

This year, 366 wild boars and 434 water deer were captured in Pohang, and the city has recorded zero cases of African Swine Fever to date.

Shin Jeong-hyeok, Director of the Environmental Policy Division, stated, "We will strictly manage to prevent the occurrence of African Swine Fever in local pig farms," adding, "We will also do our best in intensive wild boar capture and carcass disposal to prevent damage to farmers' crops."