Heide in northern Germany saw a little wildlife adventure on Friday after two Wild Boars rampaged around the town, injuring at least four people. The boars invaded an optician’s business and a bank during their tour of the town, while residents have found out just how vicious the animals can be. Video footage of the two boars invading the optician’s business has since gone viral.
Boars root around German town
According to various media reports, the wild boars arrived in Heide early on Friday morning and started attacking pedestrians, leading to authorities warning the public to stay indoors.
As the animals headed into an optician business in the town, one woman, in the path of one of the boars, was injured.
Wild boars terrorize northern German city of Heide https://t.co/cSNua2N1JQ pic.twitter.com/MIEDpfim58
— dwnews (@dwnews) October 21, 2017
The Telegraph reports that among the injuries caused, one man had his fingertip torn off, while others suffered leg injuries. Reportedly, a number of cars were damaged during the animals’ rampage. A large-scale operation was launched by police and hunters in an attempt to track down the wild boars.
One eyewitness said she saw a woman screaming, with her trousers torn and lying on the ground. Another witness said the wild boars just “came out of nowhere” adding they were still “completely bewildered” over the whole incident.
One boar enters a bank
Deutsche Welle reports that one of the boars later entered a bank in the town and started attacking people, leading to them being evacuated via upper-story windows, with emergency services placing ladders to assist them. Police blocked the bank’s entrance with a vehicle while hunters were called in to deal with the errant animal.
The boar tried to flee by getting under the car, leading to the animal being shot and killed.
The Local quotes Ulf Stecher, mayor of Heide, as saying one shot was enough to down the boar, adding that it had been an “extremely unusual” situation. Stecher added he never thought such a thing could happen in the town.
Terror in Ditmarschen🐗🐗 pic.twitter.com/mheLOKa5RK
— Daggi (@danishkeks) October 20, 2017
Meanwhile, the second wild boar is still on the loose and is believed to be roaming around on the outskirts of the town.
Authorities have warned locals not to attempt to approach the animal.
The Telegraph quotes Marcus Börner of the Country Hunting Association as saying wild boars live in the forests surrounding the town and their numbers have recently increased. He said the fact the boars were caught in town, surrounded by walls and people, was highly stressful for the animals, causing them to be aggressive.
That report quotes an incident near to Berlin’s Tegel Airport, where a herd of the boars attacked people, injuring three. In that case, it took 18 shots for authorities to bring down just one 440lb boar, while the balance of the herd got away.