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STORY: They may be cute up close, but Spain is warning its residents to stay away from wild boars.

There's been an increase of boar incidents across the country - 1,200 in Barcelona alone last year.

And last month - a girl outside the city was sent to the hospital after a run-in with one of the animals.

Residents say they’re a nuisance.

“They eat from the trash and tourists that come for excursions feed them and that's the problem, so they stop being wild animals and they are camping here just like cats.”

"I'm not afraid of them because this is my defence. This is the only thing that will make them leave.”

It’s not a new problem in Spain, but it worsened during the pandemic - with boars moving into quiet urban areas in lockdowns.

Authorities say the boars are too used to scavenging to be released back into the wild.

So they have no choice but to put them down, using nets to capture, sedate and then euthanize the boars.

"Now he's sedated, he doesn't feel any stimulus from the outside. That’s the worst part of our job”

Veterinary tech Carles Conejero is in charge of a boar control program in Barcelona.

"No veterinarian likes to kill animals. It's something we don't like and should not be doing, but if we had the social and environmental factors under control, this wouldn't be needed.”

Dead boars are studied for diseases and food habits.

But Conejero says simply culling the boars won’t be enough to solve the problem.

Apart from capturing the animals, Barcelona’s plan also includes securing trash bins, fining residents who feed them and social awareness campaigns.

Spain's Hunting Resources Research Institute estimates that the wild boar population will spike past two million next year.