Wild boar goes on rampage through Malmö
Police were called in after a wild boar ran amok through central Malmö, Sweden's third-biggest city. It was understood to still be at large early on Wednesday morning.
A witness first saw the animal just after midnight in Pildammsparken, a popular park in the southern Swedish city.
This sparked a police chase that continued for several hours. The beast, which according to police was last seen at 2.30am on Wednesday, had still not been caught shortly after 7am.
“This is unusual so we were forced to act. Malmö isn't the natural habitat for a wild boar,” police control room officer Magnus Lefèvre told the Aftonbladet tabloid earlier in the morning.
Nobody was injured as the wild boar ran through the city, but he warned residents not to approach it if they should happen to meet it.
“It is basically a shy animal, but also a fairly dangerous animal. The danger is that it gets stressed and then there is always a risk. (…) In a city they are even more dangerous,” said Lefèvre.
Vildsvin på fri klöv i Malmö i natt. http://t.co/F7EubhcZJm pic.twitter.com/tjBFpjNvZN
— Sydsvenskan (@sydsvenskan) October 14, 2015
Wild boars are common in woodland areas in southern Sweden and have been responsible for a number of road accidents and attacks on hunters in the past few years, but rarely venture into towns or cities.
READ ALSO: Is it time to eat wild boars in Sweden?
The Local cannot help but wonder if it was attempting to catch up with a runaway python that was last seen slithering around Pildammsparken in another high-profile animal hunt in Malmö.
Wednesday morning's wild goose chase (er, wild boar chase) comes on the back of several other animal sightings in the city.
In August a two-metre long python stopped traffic when it fell out of a moving car, just days after another snake was eventually caught after it escaped from its owner twice in a week.
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A witness first saw the animal just after midnight in Pildammsparken, a popular park in the southern Swedish city.
This sparked a police chase that continued for several hours. The beast, which according to police was last seen at 2.30am on Wednesday, had still not been caught shortly after 7am.
“This is unusual so we were forced to act. Malmö isn't the natural habitat for a wild boar,” police control room officer Magnus Lefèvre told the Aftonbladet tabloid earlier in the morning.
Nobody was injured as the wild boar ran through the city, but he warned residents not to approach it if they should happen to meet it.
“It is basically a shy animal, but also a fairly dangerous animal. The danger is that it gets stressed and then there is always a risk. (…) In a city they are even more dangerous,” said Lefèvre.
Vildsvin på fri klöv i Malmö i natt. http://t.co/F7EubhcZJm pic.twitter.com/tjBFpjNvZN
— Sydsvenskan (@sydsvenskan) October 14, 2015
Wild boars are common in woodland areas in southern Sweden and have been responsible for a number of road accidents and attacks on hunters in the past few years, but rarely venture into towns or cities.
READ ALSO: Is it time to eat wild boars in Sweden?
The Local cannot help but wonder if it was attempting to catch up with a runaway python that was last seen slithering around Pildammsparken in another high-profile animal hunt in Malmö.
Wednesday morning's wild goose chase (er, wild boar chase) comes on the back of several other animal sightings in the city.
In August a two-metre long python stopped traffic when it fell out of a moving car, just days after another snake was eventually caught after it escaped from its owner twice in a week.
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