Abstract
The number and the distribution area of wild boar (Sus scrofa) has increased especially in mountainous regions, causing serious agricultural damage in Japan. In these areas, wild boar frequently use agricultural and abandoned fields. However, little information is available about their use of these fields. We set automatic cameras at one abandoned orchard and two orchards (peach and peach/plum orchards) to check the use of these fields by wild boar in Ichinomiya, Yamanashi, Japan, from June to December 2001. The branches of plum and peach were broken when wild boar ate fruits from these trees from June to August. They frequently visited abandoned orchard during this same period, and peach and peach/plum orchards in August when the fruits had ripened. They used abandoned orchard more intensively than peach and peach/plum orchards. It may be because food and cover are available and human disturbance is lower in abandoned orchard. Wild boar visited all three sites most frequently from 19:00 to 22:00. Few of them were recorded before sunset and after sunrise. This is probably because the wild boars try to avoid human contact.
