The aim of this work was to use standardized digital cartography of vegetation coverage to test whether or not the predicted range of habitat suitability for wild boar in Bulgaria coincides with the georeferenced/presence records of this species. The predicted range of habitat suitability based on potential biological resources in Bulgaria encompasses 13 land uses from the CORINE program, being “Broad-leaved forests” (23432 km2) the most representative. The total potential resources for wild boar correspond to 57.54 % of the country area. A high level of correlation (0.86) was found between inverse distance of wild boars presence and habitat suitability areas. A significant level of correlation (0.71, p < 0.0001) per Bulgarian region between area of habitat suitability category 2 (resources suitable for use as both food and shelter) and number of wild boar was also found.Suitable wild boar habitat on borders appeared
as the most relevant parameter for evaluating the risk of introduction of diseases by wild boar into the European Union from neighbouring countries. Despite being the longest (608 km), the Bulgaria-Romania border did not
represent the most important corridor for wild boar since only 12.78 % of its surface is suitable habitat; the percentage of the importance of this border edges the passage of wild boar is 20.63 %. The Bulgaria-Macedonia (FYROM) border must be regarded as the most
important passageway for wild boar (96.88 %), with 148 km of border and 12.34 % of its surface area of suitable habitat. Our findings could be highly useful for developing adequate strategies for wildlife management practices on large spatial scales, as well as for the control of wildlife and its habitats (territorial integration and spatial planning according to the casuistry of the zone), and relationships between wildlife and other human interests.
Wild boar population size in the Iberian Peninsula was estimated using hunting bag statistics from Spain and Portugal. Density was estimated assigning the wild boar population size to the “potential resources” or suitable habitats categorized by their importance to provide food and/or shelter to wild boars. Land uses were selected from CORINE, the EU database for land cover, using scientific literature and statistical significance for wild boar presence from published data.
The hunting bag was 176245 and 15167 in Spain and Portugal, respectively. The average density was 0.373/km2 (min 0.014-max 2.22) in Spain and 0.13/km2 (min 0.00048-max 1.99) in Portugal, being 0.31/km2 (0.00048-2.22) over the entire Peninsula. Statistical analysis showed that wild boar presence was significantly (p < 0.05) associated to thirteen of the seventeen CORINE land uses selected. Agro-forestry, moors and heathland land use were not statistically significant but were included in the model due to their biological importance. Suitable habitats and distribution of wild boar were mapped for the Iberian Peninsula. This approach is a preliminary step intended to be useful in environmental management and animal health.