Špiro, the wild boar on Marjan that became the hit of Split over the last two years, is no longer a part of the Split park.
It’s a sad day for the people of Split, animal lovers, and Špiro’s followers as Marjan’s beloved wild boar has been removed from the park. Špiro lived on Marjan for almost two years and did not cause any incidents in his interactions with visitors at the park, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on January 11, 2019.
Mladen Balić, the president of the Split-Dalmatia County Hunting Association and manager of the Solin company Lovtur, which performed the removal of Špiro, explained why Špiro had to go.
“We acted on the orders of the Ministry from 20.12.2018, and if we did not take this action, we would be punished. Namely, African swine fever has appeared, which our people know little about, and believe that if this disease appears within ten miles of our area, game would have to disappear completely. And not only game but domestic swine would have to go, too,” Balić said, adding:
“By order, all wild pigs must be removed from areas that are not huntable, and capture and relocation are strictly forbidden by order."
But like all true Split people, Špiro did not surrender without a fight. For days, weeks, the hunters tried to catch him in traps they set up in areas they knew Špiro would stay, but the four traps remained empty.
“In accordance with the order, we shot the wild boar on January 8th. We removed it safely and excavated a hole which it was placed in, disinfected the terrain, partitioned it and took all the necessary measures,” said Mladen Balić.
“We calculated that Špiro was a little over eight years old. He was over 150 kilograms,” Balić added.
How Špiro ever made it to Marjan in the first place remains a mystery, though hunters have revealed two of their theories.
One is that Špiro, a skilled swimmer, arrived at Marjan from Čiovo, and the other is that in 2011 when the Zoological Garden was emptied - he merely escaped.
The story of Špiro is now sadly over.
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