Rampaging wild boar wreaks havoc in Prague

PRAGUE—A wild boar went on a rampage in downtown Prague, terrorizing pedestrians and even smashing a window at a five-star hotel in the Czech capital before being sedated, police said Tuesday.

“On Sunday at 9:15 am, a citizen called the emergency line saying a wild boar was swimming across the Vltava river… towards a Prague hotel,” city police said in a statement.

The wild animal broke a window at the glass-covered Hilton hotel, stormed through four districts of the capital with police in hot pursuit, and even tried to attack a mother pushing a pram.

“An officer promptly barred its way with a motorbike so the woman and child escaped unscathed,” police said.

The boar then charged through a backyard garden—and sent bewildered workers clambering up scaffolding—before it attacked a police officer.

“That was a mistake: the officer turned its head away and lay down on it,” police said.

Other officers then threw chain link metal fencing over the boar and vets injected it three times with tranquilizers to knock the animal unconscious.

The police officer who wrestled down the boar was treated for minor injuries while the animal itself was handed over to the company in charge of Prague’s forests.

Forests around Prague abound in wild boars. There have been sightings of them roaming the streets and squares of smaller towns near the capital, damaging gardens and fields.