Current Status And Protection Of Wild Boar(Sus Scrofa) Population In Qinling Mountains Of Xi’an

The wild boar(Sus scrofa)belongs to the Mammalia Artiodactyla Suidae Sus,is one of the important resource mammals in China.It was listed in the List of Terrestrial Wildlife of Beneficial or Important Economic and Scientific Research Value of National Protection issued by the State Forestry Administration in 2000.In recent years,with the improvement of the ecological environment quality,wild boar population has greatly increased due to its strong environmental adaptability and high reproductive rate.There have been incidents of wild boars destroying farmland and injuring villagers in most provinces.The conflict between wild boar and human in Xi’an has caused enormous economic losses,which is not conducive to the protection and management of wildlife.To grasp the status of wild boar resources in this area can provide data support for the effective management and utilization of wild boar.In this study,the wild boar in Qinling Mountains of Xi’an City was taken as the research object,and the population,distribution,winter habitat selection,ecological habits and villagers’tolerance to wild boar were investigated by the transect method,quadrat method,infrared camera monitoring and questionnaire survey.The main results were as follows:(1)Wild boar was mainly distributed in Qinling Mountains at the southernmost end of Xi’an City.In Zhouzhi,Huyi,Chang’an and Lantian counties,50.0%,30.8%,32.0%and47.4%of villages and towns had wild boar distribution.The linear intercept method was used to obtain the estimated density of wild boars in Zhouzhi County(3.063±0.356)head/km~2,the density of wild boars in Huxian County was(4.028±0.471)head/km~2,and the density of mountain wild boar in Chang’an District was(3.763±0.553)head/km~2,the density of wild boars in Lantian County was(3.407±0.366)heads/km~2,and the total population density of wild boars in Qinling Mountains was(3.344±0.217)head/km~2,and the total number was about 15682-17858 heads.Using the Distance 6.0 software to obtain the wild boar densities of Zhouzhi,Huyi,Chang’an and Lantian counties(districts)were 2.970 head/km~2,3.409 head/km~2,3.374head/km~2and 2.987 head/km~2respectively.The estimated density of the entire Qinling mountain wild boar was 2.662 head/km~2,the population was 13350 heads.(2)The winter habitat selection of wild boar was mainly affected by the distance from house,altitude,sheltering,slope position,slope direction and habitat type.The species preferred deciduous broad-leaved forest habitat types with distance from house>500 m,elevation 1000-2000 m,moderate concealment,southeast slope and middle slope.(3)In terms of time allocation,the most frequency of wild boars activities was in June and August,while the lowest was in February.The peak periods of activities in spring and winter were mainly in the afternoon,and summer and autumn had two peak periods of activity,which was 10:00-12:00,14:00-16:00 and 08:00-10:00,12:00-14:00 respectively.In terms of population structures,the adult sex ratio was 1.625:1,and the number of adults was significantly lower than the sum of subadults and juveniles(74.39%).In terms of cluster type,wild boars were mostly solitary individuals in spring and winter,mainly sow-piglet group in summer,and sub-adult group in autumn.In terms of habitat selection,deciduous broad-leaved forest and coniferous broad-leaved mixed forest were two favorite vegetation types for wild boars.They lived in low altitude areas in spring,autumn and winter,but tended to migrate to high altitude areas in summer.(4)Compared with the villagers in shallow mountainous areas,the villagers in deep mountainous areas had a worse tolerance for wild boar.The main factors affecting villagers’tolerance to wild boar were the proportion of farmland income,the area destroyed by wild boars,the proportion of annual family income and the area destroyed by wild boars.There were no significant differences in the indicators of wild boar tolerance among educational level,average land area per household,frequency of encountering wild boars and the proportion of forest land income.The wild boar was mainly distributed in the Qinling Mountains at the southernmost end of Xi’an.Its population density was estimated to be 2.662 head/km~2.In winter habitat selection,wild boar was mainly affected by six habitat factors,such as distance from house,altitude,sheltering,slope position,slope direction and habitat type.The activity pattern,population structure and distribution of wild boar in different vegetation types and altitudes varied with seasons,mainly affected by climate,food resources and reproductive characteristics.Facing the harm of wild boar,the tolerance of villagers in deep mountainous areas was worse.The proportion of farmland income,the area destroyed by wild boar,the annual family income and the area destroyed by wild boar were the main factors affecting the attitude of villagers in Qinling Mountains to wild boar.