The state Environmental Board (Keskkonnamet) is aiming to pare down wild boar population density to three individuals per 1,000 hectares of hunting land by the end of next season, in an effort to curb the spread of ASF.

How many wild boars actually move back and forth across the border is unknown, Tanel Türna, head of the board's hunting and aquatic life department, told Maaleht, though in any case the board has issued an order requiring all boar, including sows with squeakers, as juvenile boar are known, to be hunted within 10 kilometers of the state's land border.

The edict affects areas near the border both with Latvia and Russia, on top of zones within a 10-kilometer radius of pig farms nationwide.

Türna said "border areas are critical, as boars moving across the border can increase the spread of the virus and bring the disease to areas where it does not yet exist," adding that while the project will be "difficult," the hope is that with the "cooperation of hunters, it will succeed."

Some hunters may take some convincing, however: Maaleht quoted one, Einart Kask, chair of the Mõisaküla hunting club in Viljandi County, that "You can't hunt what isn't there," noting that boar have fled the areas in question anyway, precisely because of ASF.

"Animals are not like that that they see others falling ill, and so stay in place to die," Kask said, noting the situation is the same in Latvia.

Kristjan Hunt, a board member of the Abja hunting club, also in Viljandi County, concurred, saying boar likely fled inland from the border areas, and noting that mushroom foragers and hunters alike have been reporting a dearth of the animal.

Hunting clubs face fines for failing to meet wild boar quotas, with one club required to hunt 86 but only shooting seven, and another needing 98 but only taking 10–15, though they remain hopeful.

The Environmental Board reassures hunting clubs that failing to meet wild boar quotas will be assessed case by case, with corrective measures applied only if hunting limits are "deliberately" ignored, while new measures to combat ASF, including hunting from vehicles, using night sights and drones, and setting up trapping fences near pig farms or borders, are in place, with a 2025/2026 cull quota of 19,800 wild boar for Estonia.

Away from border areas, the boar population seems to be healthier – Delfi's Russian language portal carried a video of around a dozen boar, including youngsters, rushing into a major road just outside Tallinn.

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