Riau in all out boar war

JAKARTA (JP): Armed with sickles, sticks and rifles, dozens of villagers, youths and sharp shooters have marched into the jungle for a major war -- against wild boars.

Riau provincial government officials are serious about exterminating the boars that local farmers have claim are the number one pest in the area.

Officials have called on 870 members of the little-known Association of Indonesian Boar Hunting Sports (POBBI), from throughout Indonesia, to help eradicate the boars, Antara reported yesterday.

Assisted by 1,150 dogs, the hunters plan to rid the forests of the boars near areas earmarked as transmigration sites.

Anasri Lahmin, who was coordinating the hunt, said the war front opened in Muara Takus village on Monday, where 150 boars were killed in a single day.

The hunting will continue until the official opening of the transmigration sites in December.

"It might sound like a competition, but we don't offer prizes because our aim is only to help farmers get rid of the damned boars," Anasri said.

Farmers have been so overrun by boars that Governor Soeripto once invited entrepreneurs to build pork canning businesses in the province.

But the idea provoked strong opposition from local students who insisted Riau did not need capitalists to get rid of boars.

They proposed that the pests be hunted for sport, an idea the governor was unable to resist. (pan)