Hunting, Predation and Senescence in Boars

Overview & Synopsis

Identifying the factors causing mortality over life is of great importance in gerontology, ecology and evolution. I first present some general methods to properly estimate age-related causes of mortality. Second, I report some of the studies that have quantified the main causes of mortality affecting wild boar over life, an emblematic game species that has dramatically increased in abundance and distribution across Europe. Hunting is the major cause of mortality, followed by natural mortality (e.g. starvation, senescence) and predation, all these factors of mortality being age- and/or sex-specific. Third, I discuss why it is important to examine how some sources of mortality can interact. Finally, I show how hunting can select for accelerated life history that allows wild boar to compensate high mortality probabilities with high reproductive output.