Spatio‐temporal patterns and risk factors of wild boar–pig farm contact across Europe

Diseases circulating at the wild–domestic animal interface are increasingly difficult to control due to human encroachment into wildlife habitats. Understanding the factors driving wild animals to visit livestock farms is crucial for reducing the risk of disease outbreaks with severe economic and social consequences. In this study, we quantified the contact rate at the wild boar–domestic pig interface across Europe using a large-scale dataset of wild boar GPS tracking and domestic pig farm geolocations. We estimated wild boar contact rate with pig farms at hourly and monthly scales and analysed the influence of environmental, wild boar- and farm-related variables. Across 187 tracked wild boars and 457 pig farms, we detected 3322 contact events, with a highly skewed contact distribution: only 5% of wild boars and 1% of farms accounted for 50% of all events. On average, each wild boar had 1.59 contacts per month with a given farm (95% CI: 1.33–1.85) and 2.58 contacts per month when considering all farms located within its monthly home range (95% CI: 1.62–3.53). Seasonal variation differed between sexes, with a bimodal distribution for males with contact rates peaking in March and August–September, and a slight increase in contact rate throughout winter for females. Monthly contact rate increased with forest cover, human footprint, wild boar population density and individual proximity to pig farms. Farms with more built infrastructure faced fewer contacts, and larger farms had higher contact rates. Contacts occurred mostly after sunset and around sunrise. Synthesis and applications. Our results highlight the need to incorporate wild boar spatio-temporal behaviour and farm context into strategies aimed at reducing contact at the wild–domestic pig interface. While physical barriers and avoiding unintentional feeding remain essential, targeted measures during high-risk periods, such as night-time surveillance in summer and autumn, especially around large farms in wooded landscapes or areas with high wild boar density, could help reduce contact occurrence.