This is the moment a herd of wild boar trotted along to Malaga city centre football stadium

A herd of nearly a dozen wild boar was spotted roaming freely along the banks of the Guadalmedina near La Rosaleda stadium in Malaga city centre at around 7.30am on Thursday. Although it has become more common to see these wild animals, which are considered a pest by health authorities, they never fail to attract attention.

Several resident strolling along the river bank alerted the Local Police, who arrived and led the boar downstream.

However, the presence of these animals - usually hybrids of wild boar and domestic pig - has become a major problem, because they cause traffic accidents, economic damage and destruction. They pose a risk - albeit low - of attacking people or pets. Moreover, they present a danger of causing zoonoses, the transmission of diseases to humans.

It is very difficult to keep these populations in check, as they lack natural predators in their environment. Their expansion is estimated at some 22,000 specimens in the province. And there is never a lack of controversy between those who defend more direct extermination measures and others that are more natural. In Malaga, the tendency is to return them to the wild and, if necessary, use anaesthetic darts followed by euthanasia.

In natural environments, the Andalusian regional government and some local councils use capture stations. In general, water troughs have been tested in strategic places, and various other measures are being considered — including changes to urban furniture to prevent access to fountains and the overturning of rubbish bins..

What all authorities insist on is that feeding them is strictly forbidden. In fact, they have even been seen accessing feral cat feeding points in cities.

They are animals of habit and have become accustomed to finding food very easily. It was assumed that with the ‘danas’ and storms of the last few months they would stay more in the mountains, but they continue to come down to the city and large towns along the Costa del Sol because they have lost their fear of humans. And their presence is multiplying daily on beaches, in parks, on streets and shopping centres.

In fact, it is increasingly easy to see them in broad daylight, when they would most commonly only move around at night. They establish their resting areas in the many streams and waterways that connect the mountains to the towns.

In the specific case of the Guadalmedina, in January there was a police operation to capture a large specimen that had taken shelter under the La Goleta bridge. On another occasion, the regular opening of the sluice gates of the El Limonero reservoir, which takes place every first Wednesday of the month, swept away several specimens. During the last few months it has been very common to see people feeding them or simply watching them in the area around the Conservatorio bridge, in Ciudad Jardín.