CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The wild boar is an invasive mammal in Argentinathat generates habitat alteration, predation, and competitionthat threaten several native species due to its flexible andbroad diet and its rooting behavior. We evaluated the diet ofwild boar in El Palmar National Park (EPNP), assessing itscomposition, seasonality, and importance of baiting. Vegetable matter represented the major component of the diet, wherecorn was the most abundant food item, which is used as bait tohunt wild boars. Animal remains were also abundant andmostly consisted of birds. Wild boar diet exhibited markedseasonality that seems related to food availability, such as theoccurrence of fruits in summer. Currently, the importance ofbait in the diet could support and complement the diet of wildboar and improve their reproduction triggering the populationgrowth. Also, the impacts on native biodiversity may behidden due to the constant food subsidy of corn. We recommend the implementation of other control methods such ashunting with dogs or traps and the use of alternative baits, asodor baits, to avoid the supplemental feeding, or finally, ifcorn baiting is continuous, we suggest regulating their quantity and frequency. Further studies on wild boar diet andbaiting methods should be conducted due to its multipleimplications on wild boar populations and native ecosystems.