Preemptive Wild Boar Reduction: A Bridge Not Too Far in Effective Response to ASF Threat in a Protected Area Under High Anthropogenic Pressure

In Kampinoski National Park (KNP), located in central Poland near the Warsaw agglomeration, the ASF epidemic lasted five years (2017-2021). The virus likely entered the park via wild boar migrating along a natural ecological corridor or through unintentional transmission by residents and tourists. Between 2014 and 2021, intensive monitoring and wild boar population reduction were implemented. The wild boar population, estimated at 11 individuals/km² in 2013, began to be reduced from 2014 onward, when ASF was first detected in Poland. In 2018, at the peak of the epidemic, the density of wild boar dropped to about 0.51 individuals/km²-the lowest in the park's history. Between 2017 and 2021, 408 ASF cases were recorded, mainly in dead wild boar, although age and sex structure analysis suggests that the actual mortality rate could have been up to about 50% higher. The early intervention-culling-which was controversial from the National Park's perspective, appears to have played a key role in controlling the situation and likely in limiting the epidemic. At the same time, the limited organizational resources of KNP highlighted the need for proactive management and close institutional cooperation in protected areas subject to high anthropogenic pressure.