Wild hogs found in Bat Yam park
Photo: Tomer Shemesh
Two young wild boars were seen wandering around a public park in Bat Yam on Monday.
After receiving a multitude of reports of the wild hogs throughout Bat Yam, police found the animals in the industrial zone of the city.
Police were called in to round them up and capture them, and they were released into the wild.
Wild Boar in Bat Yam (צילום: תומר שמש)
They then tranquilized the animals and returned them to the Rishon LeZion wilderness, where authorities believe the boar originated from.
It is believed that they were frightened due to noise coming from construction in the area.
While there are many wild boars in Israel, they are still considered a protected species. They are large, intelligent mammals who eat anything and everything.
They are also excellent diggers, using their keen sense of smell to dig for tubers, fungi, and various other subterranean animals. They are a nuisance for farmers, and they like to go and dig up fields.
Wild hogs have been seen more frequently in Israeli cities and towns as these urban areas expand into the hogs' territory
The boars are originally from northern Israel, but have migrated to the center and south of the country in recent years, and have even been spotted as far south as the Arava desert, south of the Dead Sea.