Municipalities struggling with disposal of culled wild boars(イノシシ急増、処分苦慮 「焼却」4割未満)

 
The number of wild boars captured in Fukushima Prefecture is increasing.(深刻化する被害に伴い捕獲頭数が増加しているイノシシ。自治体や狩猟者は捕獲後の処分に苦慮している)

 FUKUSHIMA - The number of wild boars that are being culled is rapidly increasing in Fukushima Prefecture, and relevant municipalities and hunters are struggling to dispose of the bodies, according to a survey conducted by the Fukushima prefectural government.
 Of 15,467 wild boars killed in fiscal 2015, the bodies of only about 5,800, or 37 percent, were incinerated, which is the most hygienic method of disposal. The remaining about 9,600 boars were buried in the ground.

 県内のイノシシ捕獲頭数が急増し、地元自治体や狩猟者が捕獲後の処分に苦慮している現状が、県の調査で分かった。2015(平成27)年度に捕獲したイノシシ1万5467頭のうち、衛生的に最適な焼却処分は全体の37%に当たる約5800頭にとどまる一方、残り約9600頭は土に埋設処分された。

 The damage caused by wild boars is becoming more serious, mainly in areas where evacuation instructions were issued after the nuclear accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Municipalities in the prefecture have a tough job securing sites to dispose of the bodies and maintaining a hygienic environment.

 東京電力福島第1原発事故で避難指示が出された地域を中心にイノシシ被害が深刻化する中、捕獲後のイノシシを処分する用地の確保や衛生環境整備などが、市町村の大きな負担になっている。

 "It's tough work cutting up a boar, which can weigh as much as 100 kilograms. If we had an incinerator that didn't require dismembering, it would be very helpful. I hope one will be built in our district," Tadao Goto, the head of the Kori branch of the Fukushima prefectural hunters association, said in a tired manner.
 Goto, 62, usually takes 30 to 40 minutes to cut up a single boar for disposal at an incineration facility of the Date district hygiene processing association.
 It's also strenuous to dig a hole and bury a wild boar's body in accordance with the wildlife protection and hunting law, and there is a need to secure necessary sites. "Since we don't have a place to bury boars, we choose to incinerate them," said Goto, who captures about 40 wild boars a year.
 However, dead boars quickly go bad in summer, causing a bad smell if their incineration is delayed.

 「大きいと100キロ近い重さになるイノシシを解体するのは大変。解体が不要な焼却炉があったら楽だな。うちの方にも建たないかな」。伊達地方衛生処理組合の焼却施設でイノシシを焼却するため、1頭当たり30~40分かけて解体している県猟友会桑折支部長の後藤忠郎さん(62)に徒労感が漂う。
 鳥獣の保護および管理ならびに狩猟の適正化に関する法律に基づき、捕獲したイノシシを穴を掘って埋めるのは重労働で、用地確保の問題もある。年間40頭ほど捕獲する後藤さんは「埋める場所がないから、焼却を選んでいる」。しかし、焼却するにも夏場はイノシシが腐りやすく、処理が滞ると悪臭に悩まされる。

 Goto wants something like the incinerator used only for boars that is owned by a hygiene association formed by the city of Soma and the town of Shinchi, both in Fukushima Prefecture. The association built the incinerator in Soma and began operating it in April 2016.
 The facility makes it possible to incinerate boars without dismembering them, and prevents the dissemination of radioactive materials with a filter. Over one year from the start of its operation, about 830 boars, including those captured in fiscal 2015 and kept in freezers, were incinerated. The association plans to incinerate about 600 boars a year in the future.

 後藤さんがうらやむのは、相馬市と新地町でつくる相馬方部衛生組合が同市に建設し、16年4月に稼働したイノシシ専用の焼却炉。イノシシを解体せずに焼却でき、バグフィルターで放射性物質の飛散も防ぐ。稼働後の1年で、冷凍庫に保管されていた15年度捕獲分も含め約830頭を焼却。今後も年間600頭のペースで焼却する計画だ。

 According to an official at the Soma municipal government, members of the hunters association became increasingly less motivated to hunt wild boars due to the problems related to the handling of the animals they bagged.
 "Now their disposal is not a problem, which helped motivate the hunters association members again," the official said.

 捕獲後の処理が問題となり、猟友会の駆除意欲の低下に拍車を掛けていたとする相馬市の担当者は「処分に悩む必要がなくなり、駆除意欲の活性化につながった」と説明する。

 However, different municipalities have their own policies regarding the disposal of boars. In addition to Soma and Shinchi, the only place in the prefecture where it is possible to incinerate boars without dismembering them is the city of Fukushima, which has a facility with high incineration capacity.
 In the other 35 municipalities, boars are first dismembered and then incinerated at nonindustrial waste incineration facilities or buried. Some municipalities do not use incineration facilities and just bury them in the ground.

 ただ市町村の処分方針は分かれる。解体せずにイノシシを焼却できるのは両市町と、高い焼却能力の施設を持つ福島市のみ。35市町村は事前に解体して一般廃棄物の焼却施設で焼却するか、埋設している。焼却施設を使わず埋設している市町村もある。

 ◆8 times more captured
 To prevent agricultural damage and harm to people, the prefectural government aims to capture 17,000 to 18,000 boars a year and reduce the population to 5,200 by fiscal 2019. The number of wild boars killed in fiscal 2016 is still being calculated, but it is belived to be about 24,000, which surpasses the prefecture's target and is eight times the about 3,000 in fiscal 2011.

 ◆捕獲頭数8倍に
  県はイノシシによる農業被害や人的被害の未然防止に向け、年間1万7000~1万8000頭を捕獲、19年度までに生息数を5200頭に減らす目標を掲げる。16年度の実績は集計中だが、目標を上回る2万4000頭が捕獲されたとみられる。捕獲数は11年度の約3000頭の約8倍に膨らむ。

 Measures to hunt wild boars are on the right track, but many municipalities are troubled by the handling of them. Some municipalities are considering introducing incineration facilities just for boars, or equipment to degrade the bodies using microorganisms. However, to construct disposal facilities, which are generally regarded as "troublesome," it is necessary to obtain the understanding of local residents, so municipalities must handle the issue carefully.
 "We'll think about the final disposal of wild boars with municipalities and act with them," an official at the prefectural government's natural protection section said.

( Translated by The Japan News )

 捕獲対策が軌道に乗る一方、多くの市町村が処分に頭を悩ませる。専用の焼却施設や微生物による分解処理装置の導入を検討する市町村も出てきているが、一般的に「迷惑施設」と見られがちな処理施設の建設には住民の理解が必要で、慎重な対応を迫られているのが現状だ。県自然保護課は「出口ベースの処分をどうするか。市町村と一緒に考え、問題解決に汗をかいていきたい」とする。

 【 2017年4月16日付・福島民友新聞掲載 】