Srinagar, Feb. 16 -- After rural areas, wild boars have now been spotted in Srinagar causing panic among people and prompting the legislators of the capital-city to raise the issue in Jammu and Kashmir assembly. Khanyar MLA Ali Muhammad Sagar submitted a calling attention notice to the assembly secretariat on the issue of wild boars roaming in the rural areas destroying crops in his constituency besides being seen in urban areas like 90-feet road andSoura areas of Hazratbal constituency. "In the Theed village near Dachigam National Park, boars are daily destroying crops, orchards and kitchen gardens, inflicting heavy economic losses on farmers. Alarmingly, the problem has now spread toSrinagar city with wild boars openly running in denselypopulated areas including 90 ft Road, endangering public safety, children and traffic," the notice said. "Despite toe-walling and a control room, intrusions are increasing in frequency and spreading. I request the minister for forest, ecology and environment to make an immediate statement detailing emergency containment measures and a time-bound comprehensive plan to permanently resolve this serious human-wildlife conflict," the communication urged. Wild boars, which are not native to Kashmir and had not been seen since the mid-1980s, have been sighted increasingly since 2018 in the valley's villages. Believed to be introduced by Maharaja Gulab Singh for game hunting, the animal is also not accepted culturally in the Muslim majority region. Hazratbal MLA Salman Ali Sagar raised the issue in the assembly on Friday and demanded immediate resolution of the issue. "Wild boars have caused much damage in Srinagar. It started from Dachigam National Park, where they had been introduced... Today we saw them in a video in Soura and 90-Feet road," Salman Sagar said. As per wildlife experts, the animal is an invasive species and a prolific breeder. Researchers say that climate change can be one of the factors for the increase in population of wild boars in Kashmir, where winters have been dry and relatively hot in recent years, while in north Kashmir, the reason may be owing to the increase in population of wild boars in Pakistan occupied Kashmir forests adjoining the Line of Control....