Abstract
Cattle grazing is an effective means of controlling vegetation in abandoned fields. Temperate grass can be introduced to increase the grazing capacity for beef calf production. This grass might also become winter food for deer, thereby increasing deer populations. However, no information is available related to effects of introduced grass on wild boars. We investigated the frequency of wild boars' appearance in temperate grassland and whether they eat temperate grass. We counted 3809 wild-boar fecal groups in a grassland area (2ha) during October-March. Analyses of wild boar feces collected in January and March demonstrated that the percentage of monocotyledon was greater than 40% of fecal contents. We set 10 cages to protect grasslands from wild boars' feeding. We measured above-ground plant biomass inside and outside the cages in March and May. The standing biomass of Lolium multiflorum Lam. was lower outside the cages than inside in March and May because of the wild boars' feeding behavior. These results indicate that the temperate grassland provided winter food for wild boars. Therefore, when temperate grass is introduced into an abandoned field, its impact on the wild boar population must be considered.
