You're enjoying a walk
with your dog in the forest.
Suddenly, your dog senses something
and starts barking at some bushes.
All you can see is a snout
and two big tusks.
Your dog keeps on barking,
the bushes move,
and a big beast charges out.
What are you going to do?
Wild boars look a bit like domestic pigs,
but they have longer legs and dark hair.
And some of them can weigh up to
136 kg (300 lb) or more.
They prefer to live in deciduous forests,
but recently,
they've also started invading cities,
and trashing urban areas in Europe
while scrounging for food.
And if you get in the way of their food,
they could come after you instead.
A wild boar's diet is about 90% vegetation
and 10% animal matter.
And although it's very unlikely,
they will eat a human if they're very hungry
and have no other choice.
Although they rarely attack humans,
they kill up to 7 people each year.
Here's how to survive
if a wild boar attacks you.
If you like walking your dogs in bushy,
rural areas, stay alert.
Barking can upset a wild boar
and cause an attack.
In 2020, a man in Montgomery, Texas
woke up around 4 a.m.
because his two dogs were barking.
When the man went to see
what was going on,
his spotlights revealed a wild hog.
An invisible fence protected the dogs
when the wild hog tried to attack them.
Then the animal charged him,
so the man ran behind this house to hide.
The hog thought he went inside,
began slamming the house’s back door,
and broke the hinges off.
The man shot the hog in the heart
with his crossbow.
If you see a wild boar approaching
from a distance,
try not to disrupt it
and just run away.
If the boar is at a medium distance,
back away slowly,
and don't make any sudden moves.
But if you have already provoked a boar,
and it's nearby,
running away might not work.
Some boars can run
up to 48 km/h (30 mph).
That's faster than Usain Bolt.
Try to get up a tree or a large boulder.
Wild boars have “climbed” out of pig traps
with walls up to 1.8 m (6 ft) high.
So, climbing up at least 2 m (6.5 ft)
should keep you safe.
Then, try to stay still,
and wait for the boar to go away.
Climb down quietly and, if possible,
go in the opposite direction to the boar.
If you can't escape
and have to do battle,
stand your ground
and fight with all your strength
and anything within reach.
If you have a gun or weapon,
aim to kill the boar
because it won't give you a second chance.
If you don’t have a weapon,
grab anything you can,
including rocks, a tree branch,
or your camping gear.
It's crucial to stay on your feet.
If you fall,
you risk the boar's tusks
stabbing your gut, arms, head, or neck.
If the beast lunges at you,
try sidestepping to avoid its sharp tusks.
Wild boar attacks
may only last for a minute,
so keep fighting until the mauling stops.
If you manage to hurt the boar,
don't attack it again.
It might even fight harder
if it thinks its life is in danger.
And if the boar backs off,
don’t wait to see if it comes back.
Leave the area immediately.
Wild boars can trample you,
knock you to the ground,
bite you, stab you with their tusks,
and transmit diseases
including tuberculosis,
hepatitis E, and more.
So avoid confrontation at all costs.
Even a small scratch is enough reason
to consult your doctor.
You survived the wild boar's attack.
But what if I told you there's a creature
that eats wild boar for breakfast?
Could you survive
a Komodo dragon attack?
Find out how here.