THE WHOLE HOG

Wild Boar’s Rampage Sends 4 to the Hospital

The attack unfolded at a factory in the Japanese city of Toyota.

A seemingly frenzied wild boar left four people hospitalized after ravaging through the Japanese city of Toyota, charging workers at a factory before attacking others nearby. The roughly 120-pound animal first stormed a factory that prepares school lunches around 5:30 a.m., knocking down a 64-year-old worker as he tried to fend it off with a shopping bag and a plastic container. Surveillance footage showed a colleague rushing in with a metal trolley before the boar finally retreated after a two-and-a-half-minute standoff. Minutes later, the boar attacked a cyclist at a nearby road crossing before attempting to gore a man in his 80s at another factory roughly 800 yards away. Police and firefighters eventually cornered the animal, which died at the scene. While bears remain Japan’s deadliest wildlife threat, wild boar attacks are climbing. More than 670 people have been attacked since 2016, with last year’s 94 incidents marking the highest annual total on record.