What do you think is most Haifa? the sea? the mountain? Coexistence? The factories? the port? The shawarma? For me, proudly, these are the wild boars. I know they are controversial, but Haifa is also controversial, and I, as their follower, will list six reasons for this.
They are ugly.
If you have to imagine an animal that would be the opposite of a unicorn, it's a wild boar. The rough fur, the talons, and we haven't even begun to talk about the face that seems to have been engineered in the depths of hell. From the ears to the tail there is no aesthetic item in this animal, and that is exactly why I love them. They are so ugly that I find beauty in them, even a kind of perfection - their ugliness is perfect. Besides, when I see them on the street, suddenly it's not so bad if I forgot deodorant or didn't shave in the morning because next to them I'm a unicorn.
They are scary - and that's good.
Why do we watch horror movies, or go on a roller coaster? Why does our brain produce nightmares at night? Because we should be afraid. The wild boars turn our tedious evening walk with the dogs into a rush of adrenaline. I walk in circles and suddenly find myself in front of a huge and horrifying creature that looks at me as if it has every reason to stand where it is and I don't even have one, the dogs are starting to go crazy and I have to manipulate them, and suddenly a monotonous walk turned into a hair-raising experience with no damage (in most cases) And with a good story to tell at home. And all this goodness is free, there is no money.
They are filthy.
There's nothing like the sight of an upside-down trash can in the morning with all the trash scattered on the sidewalk and road. Well, the truth is that it is difficult to protect this habit of the wild boars, but there is an easy solution and that is the fixing of the bins. What's more, the pride and spontaneity with which they stand on their phones and pick through the trash, kind of makes it to me. Maybe because they are our mirror image - the garbage producers. When you really think about it - who are the animals here - they who are satisfied with little and advocate recycling or us whose shopping lust is never satiated and who unknowingly pollute our planet?
They are special.
Haifa's wild boars are pretty much only Haifa's, which is why they are so iconic. Paris has the Eiffel, New York has the Empire State and we have... them. As someone who grew up in a settlement that has nothing special about it (oh, Gan Yavneh) I know how to appreciate a place that has a narrative with characters and a story.
nostalgia.
Here I enter an aspect that is probably unique only to me and a few other fanatical fans of the "Asterix" comic series. Anyone familiar with the world of Asterix, the Gallic warrior, knows how central the wild boars are to it. Every time I see a wild boar there is always hope that later on in the trip I will meet Obelix and Ashfix and maybe also Julius Caesar. Somehow, magically - they jumped from the notebooks of my childhood to the streets of my adulthood.
They are outsiders and that is probably the main reason for my love.
The wild boars, as they are called, belong to the wild, to nature, and as such - do not belong to the city, underdogs. In my personal evolution, it took me a long time to embrace the underdog in me, and here they are - they didn't belong by birth and are still here, and by and large, standing proudly on 4 telepis and looking straight, as if to say - yes, it's me, and I'm here, and you can like it or not. There is a part of me that deeply identifies with them. In middle school I was the wild boar. Each of us has been a wild boar at some point in life. The hug that Haifa gave to the chapters for the wild boars is, for me, a hug that is different.
Ok, those were the main reasons, maybe if I was psychoanalyzed I would find a few more but I'll save it for the general public. I don't know what the city's plans are for the wild boars and I am aware of the negative safety aspects of them roaming freely. I have no pretension to set policy, but in my world, as a proud Haifai, I am also proud of the wild boars.
I wish we knew how to preserve our uniqueness before we try to be too normal because as Joni Mitchell wrote - "Isn't it always the case that you don't know what you have until it's gone?"
There is no doubt that pigs are a hazard in almost every urban area.
The attempt to thin out the population within the city - really causes discomfort to some residents and that is understandable.
The paths and places where the pigs come from are known.
There are large traps that catch entire herds of pigs in a non-violent manner (it is unpleasant to be caught) and thus at a low cost and ongoing care throughout the year to thin out the numbers.
It is much cheaper than erecting high fences, cleaning garbage and pig excrement, employing a firing squad with shotguns and the fear of the residents.
And after all, you have to think about the end solution.
transfer the war to the enemy's territory…..
Well done for the approach,
Kudos to the perception of the world that is right in all your words
Dear Dr. Elam Geva
I re-read your prose article about the wild boars that live in Haifa.
what is he saying? I really enjoyed it and you convinced me of your way of thinking to thin out the wild boars.
It's really inhumane to shoot them to death and leave them fluttering until they blow their souls. There are other ways to handle the matter.
And you mentioned them.
I really hope that the municipality will hear your suggestions and take action
In a non-violent way to cause pigs
to go out and leave Haifa.
Kudos to you for the ability not to see the world only in black and white and for the compassion towards animals.
The labeling of animals as cute or ugly as well as of humans is an obstacle for the observer.
Dear Elam, I think you are a bit bored. Looking for thrills... You can place a bronze statue of a wild boar in any square and it will "do the job", in their memory. It's really "unsympathetic" to come across one like this at dusk and especially, when you have shopping bags on your hands or in a cart. Although I would be tempted to like them, there is a problem in nature, that there is no deliberate ecological balance, that today they do not have natural enemies as they once had, and therefore, they reproduce "unconsciously" and therefore come to "visit" us because in nature they are in a "population explosion". In order not to cause plays of carcasses everywhere, you can build enclosures in the wild of males separately and females separately, feed them, but by doing so, reduce their quantity. As much as it is "a little" not "nice" not the most humane, it is better than shooting If there is a problem with transporting the giants, it can be done at least with regard to the less heavy offspring.