A pair of wild boars got inside a school in Kyoto, Japan, prompting the administration to evacuate the building.
The boars, about three feet long, entered the Higashiyama junior high school and senior high school in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto, around 11 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 4.
Higashiyama junior high school and senior high school, Kyoto, Japan. (Screenshot via Google Street View)
“At the beginning I was really surprised. My friend noticed it at first. The speed was incredible,” one student said, Nippon News 24 reported.
The boars have been filmed on cellphones roaming the staircases and even ramming doors.
“The wild boar climbed up the stairs to the third floor. As it was going so fast, I think if it bumped into anyone, they would have been hurt badly,” said the school’s Secretary General Masahiko Shibata, NHK reported. “The students were evacuated by the teachers. It was relieved that everyone was safe and no one was injured.”
One of the boars also took a dip in the school’s swimming pool.
Police were able to catch both animals within 90 minutes after shooting them with tranquilizer rounds.
The morning high school midterm exams were not interrupted, the school reported on its website.
Wild boars have been spotted multiple times On Kyoto streets this year. In May, one visited the lobby of the Westin Miyako Hotel. Another was spotted in June in a dormitory at Kyoto University. And in November, one collided with a construction worker in the Heian Shrine area. The worker suffered an arm injury, MBS reported.
“In the past there have been monkeys and raccoon dogs on the loose, but a wild boar is a first,” Shibata said, Sankei Shimbun reported.
Higashiyama junior high school and senior high school, Kyoto, Japan. (Screenshot via Google Maps)
Wild boars usually stay away from people. There could be multiple reasons why they came to the city, according to Sakamoto Yobu, deputy director of Kyoto City Zoo.
“The wild boars accumulate a layer of fat under their skin over the winter, it’s probable that they are looking for food. It is possible that there are more of them in the city because their numbers are increasing, or the amount of food that they can find in the mountains is decreasing,” he said.
He also offered an advice on how to handle an encounter with a wild boar:
“Don’t run away with your back facing the wild boar, move backward while facing the boar without provoking it. In the case that the wild boar is excitable please escape to a high place or an open road to avoid running into it.”
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