Boars on Rampage in Islamabad

(Newser) – Just another winter in Islamabad: Wild boars with healthy appetites are wreaking havoc in the city, streaming in to munch on the Pakistani capital's garbage. Visiting some of the city's ritziest locations—including the president's home and classy hotels—they have reportedly caused car accidents, injuries, and some deaths, the Washington Post reports. Efforts to contain the pigs have had little effect, and officials are giving up hope.

There are thousands of Eurasian wild boars, and "the distribution is expanding because no efforts are undertaken to control this menace," says a wildlife worker. They appear to adore trash: It accounts for some 58% of the contents of their stomachs, says an expert. They'll eat anything from packaging to diapers. They have few predators, particularly in a country where few eat pigs; they reproduce quickly; and in a city, shooting is out of the question. What's more, the 200-pound creatures are scary just to look at: "At nighttime when you see them, you think it’s a bear," says an official.