The Gaume region corresponds to a sub-region of Wallonia located at the extreme South-East of Belgium against the French and Luxemburg borders (Figure 1 ). This area was the subject of the first EU disease control zoning for ASF in September 2018. By February 2019, the Belgian Ardenne massif, located just to the north, was also positive for ASF virus. Gaume and Ardenne present a slightly different ecological context (Table 1 ). A total of 1106 km² was managed against ASF with a maximum proportion of 60% considered as infected.
From a hunting regulation point of view, the entire ASF management area covers 4 hunting management units encompassing 331 different hunting grounds. The ASF management area concerns 56 forest districts in 5 different entities of the Public Forest Services. The public forests comprise 369 km² (65%) out of the 572 km² of the forested area. From the wild boar’s perspective, the environment is favourable since it is composed of old-grown stands of the most common mass seeding species (Fagus sylvatica and Quercus species). The proximal agricultural plains are essentially covered with meadows and a few maize and cereal crops (wheat and oats, etc.). Natural sources of water (numerous rivers and springs) are present everywhere and throughout the year. Boar densities are considered average for Wallonia with 3.12 boars shot per km² of forest, based on statistics provided by the hunting councils in 2017 corresponding to the last hunting season before the first detected ASF-positive wild boar.
From a hunting regulation point of view, the entire ASF management area covers 4 hunting management units encompassing 331 different hunting grounds. The ASF management area concerns 56 forest districts in 5 different entities of the Public Forest Services. The public forests comprise 369 km² (65%) out of the 572 km² of the forested area. From the wild boar’s perspective, the environment is favourable since it is composed of old-grown stands of the most common mass seeding species (Fagus sylvatica and Quercus species). The proximal agricultural plains are essentially covered with meadows and a few maize and cereal crops (wheat and oats, etc.). Natural sources of water (numerous rivers and springs) are present everywhere and throughout the year. Boar densities are considered average for Wallonia with 3.12 boars shot per km² of forest, based on statistics provided by the hunting councils in 2017 corresponding to the last hunting season before the first detected ASF-positive wild boar.
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