Das Jagdmagazin mit Weitblick

African swine fever has not yet reached Austria—but it is moving closer. The nearest confirmed case in wild boar was recently reported just around 100 kilometers from the Austrian border. For hunters, that means greater responsibility: report carcasses, clean and disinfect equipment, and take extra precautions when hunting abroad.

Wild boar are pushing deeper into Austria’s alpine country. While hogs have long been a familiar part of the hunting landscape in Germany and Hungary, their growing presence in the Alps is creating a different kind of conflict. Entire sounders are rooting up high-elevation pastures in search of roots, tubers, insect larvae, and other food hidden beneath the sod—sometimes leaving large sections of grazing land looking as if they had been worked over with a plow.