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Reported Human–Wild Boar Incidents Clustered in Low-elevation, Built-up Areas of Türkiye

Wild boar near picnic tables in Dilek Peninsula–Büyük Menderes Delta National Park, Türkiye
Conservation · Human–wildlife conflict

A nationwide analysis of reported human–wild boar (Sus scrofa) incidents in Türkiye found that reports were concentrated in low-elevation, settlement-rich landscapes in both summer and winter. The study analysed 105 summer and 152 winter incidents reported through media and online sources between 2006 and 2025.

Researchers compared the incident locations with 1,000 road-biased background points and examined land cover, elevation, terrain ruggedness and settlement cover within 5-km buffers. These background points represented the landscape available for comparison; they were not 1,000 verified sites where no conflict had occurred. Reports were more likely where urban cover was greater in both seasons, and less likely at higher elevations or where cropland, forest and grass–sparse vegetation covered more of the surrounding landscape.

Winter incidents showed a different habitat pattern

The winter pattern differed around orchards and rugged terrain. Reports were more common where orchards covered more of the surrounding landscape and where the terrain was more rugged; these patterns were weak or absent in summer. The authors interpret this as consistent with wild boars using tree crops as a winter food source and rough terrain as security cover near human-dominated areas; these are biological interpretations of the spatial associations, not experimentally demonstrated causes. Incident frequencies also differed between the pre-COVID, lockdown and post-lockdown periods, which the authors relate to changes in human mobility, traffic and reporting effort during the pandemic.

Reports do not represent all human–boar encounters

The study is based on incidents reported by media and online sources rather than systematic assessments of all wild boar damage or encounters. The authors therefore describe the results as patterns in reported conflicts and complaints, not a complete census of human–wild boar conflict across Türkiye.

Sources and image credit

  1. Yıldız, F., Ahmadi, M., Tezer, T., Shabani, F., & Naderi, M. (2026). Seasonal drivers of reported human–wild boar incidents in a human-dominated biodiversity hotspot. Science of the Total Environment, 1015, 181441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.181441Primary peer-reviewed article first published online 24 January 2026. It analysed 105 summer and 152 winter media- and online-reported incidents across Türkiye from 2006–2025 against 1,000 road-biased background points.
  2. Yıldız, F., Ahmadi, M., Tezera, T., Shabani, F., & Naderi, M. (2026). Corrigendum to ‘Seasonal drivers of reported human–wild boar incidents in a human-dominated biodiversity hotspot’ [Sci. Total Environ. (2026) 1015, 181441]. Science of the Total Environment, 1016, 181496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.181496Published corrigendum correcting the affiliations of Mohsen Ahmadi and Farzin Shabani only; the study data and findings are unaffected.

Image: Wild boar (Sus scrofa) in a visitor-used area of Dilek Peninsula–Büyük Menderes Delta National Park, Türkiye, 8 June 2021. Photo: Iremelmaz / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0. Representative Turkish image illustrating wild boar close to human-used space; not an animal from the incident dataset. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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