Volunteers search for dead wild boar in Finnish swine fever zone

A former Teboil service station yard in Vaalimaa, in Finland’s Kymenlaakso region, has become a base for searches for dead wild boar in an African swine fever outbreak zone, Yle reports.

About 400 volunteers have taken part in searches in the Virolahti and Miehikkälä areas for around a month. Dozens of people join each search, motivated both by efforts to eradicate the disease and by a payment of 30 euros an hour.

About 60 volunteers gathered at the former service station on Tuesday before setting out into the terrain. Searches also began in Pyhtää last week.

Haminala resident Veeti Rautamies was taking part for the ninth time. He said around 60 people usually search in two groups of 30, using the WeHunt hunting app to see the locations of other groups and track their routes.

The volunteers sweep through the terrain in lines, normally about five metres apart. The distance can be widened to 10 metres in open fields, while in dense young forest they may search almost shoulder to shoulder.

Rautamies said the smell of a carcass can reveal its location, although freshly dead animals may have little or no smell. Ravens can also help point to a carcass.

Volunteers report their findings through the app and mark the location with tape attached to the ground or tree branches. A separate team collects the carcasses at the end of the day for examination by the Finnish Food Authority.

The authority’s employees do not search the terrain themselves. They receive reports, record preliminary location data and use the information, among other things, to help determine when an animal died, said state veterinarian Päivi Turunen.

The searches are intended to eradicate African swine fever and allow restrictions to be lifted. Turunen said there had been enough volunteers and that everyone wanted the restrictions to end as soon as possible.