Italy is sending soldiers to stop wild boars menacing its $8.8 billion prosciutto and sausage industry

Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni wants to slash the boar population by up to 80% over five years, to stop the wild animals spreading swine fever to domestic pigs. To achieve that, Meloni has signed off on deploying 177 soldiers. The pork industry, including products like prosciutto and cured sausage, is central to Italian cuisine. It generates €8.2 billion ($8.8 billion) in annual sales and employs roughly 50,000 people, the Financial Times reported, citing official data. But in recent years, the wild boar population has flourished at the expense of pigs, spreading swine fever and causing public nuisance by feasting on garbage. African swine fever has a 100% mortality rate among pigs, causing concern among local authorities that work closely with the ham and pork industries. Parma, a region in northern Italy known for its ham delicacies (and Parmesan cheese), is especially vulnerable if wild boars continue to spread the disease. Last month, the head of Italy’s prosciutto consortium ...