The city nestles at the foot of the Carmel Mountains, a natural habitat for boars, foxes, jackals, and other animals, which are all protected by Israeli law.
Boars have long entered Haifa at night looking for food and water, but residents say that in recent months they have been increasingly brazen. Scores of boars have been spotted roaming the streets, tearing up backyard gardens, digging through trash bins, and at times even blocking traffic.
VIDEO: Wild in the city.
Dozens of wild boars have taken up residence in northern Israel's coastal city of Haifa since the city banned culling pic.twitter.com/ShY9IRzdqJ
— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 16, 2019
Haifa previously allowed hunters to keep the boar population in check, but the practice was scrapped after Kalisch-Rotem's win last year. While the new mayor insists the animals are part of nature and should be protected, some residents want the pigs gone.
Ilana Dihno, Haifa resident and one of the organizers of a protest against the boars later this month, said the animals used to stay out of the city until nightfall. "Now they are walking around in broad daylight," she said. "We chose to live in a city, but we live in a jungle."
Israel's Nature and Parks Authority said the agency was working with officials in Haifa to solve the problem. One immediate step, she said, is to discourage locals from feeding the pigs.
"We are educating the population that they should not feed these animals, and they should close garbage bins because [by] feeding them, they encourage them to come," she said, adding, "When the pig finds a ready-to-eat food supply it does not go in search of food in its natural habitat."
