Chiba Battles Surge of 70,000 Boars and Cause 15 Billion Yen in Annual Agricultural Damage

The capturing and accompanying practice also includes dismantling practice. On some days, they dismantle a wild boar caught in a trap, but on this day, in anticipation of an empty-handed performance, a wild boar that had been caught in advance was prepared. After removing the skin and entrails, the instructor first uses a knife to cut up the boar. The four-legged animal has no joints in its front legs, which are connected only by flesh, so once he knew where to insert the blade, he could easily cut the boar.

“The key is to remove the limbs, and if you can do that, you can cleanly dismantle the animal. The captured animals are often buried in the mountains, but recently there are places where burial is not allowed. We have to break them up into smaller pieces to take them to the municipal disposal sites.”

The difficult part is the hind legs. Because the hip joint is stuck in the pelvis, it cannot be knifed in like the front leg. The key is to find and remove the ball-shaped bone at the base of the thigh.

The two participants followed the instructor and smoothly inserted the knife into the joint, as they were experienced. According to the instructor , once they know where the joints are, they can do it in five minutes.

Trapping boxes and snare traps are set at 30 locations in the mountains, and trapping companies commissioned by the prefectural government make daily patrols. They also have to change the bait and dispose of any prey they catch. The work is not easy, as the trappers need to know the characteristics of each animal to be able to capture it efficiently.

Kazuko Mochizuki, one of the participants, explains why she joined the trapping team.

“I became interested in hunting because wild boars sometimes appeared in my husband’s fields. I have had other experiences dismantling deer and wild boars. I want to learn about the practical benefits of hunting, and eventually I would like to catch something to eat.”

In Chiba Prefecture, which is home to more than 70,000 kyons, wild boars, monkeys, and deer cause a great deal of damage to crops, with the annual cost exceeding 200 million yen. The prefecture, troubled by the pests, is currently studying effective methods of capturing these animals. To support this effort, the prefecture added processed kyon and deer meat to its hometown tax returns last year, attracting 93 taxpayers from all over Japan who paid 1.28 million yen in tax payments. The meat caught by the trappers, who have completed their training and grown up, will be processed and returned as a gift.