Wild boar leads police on hours-long chase through city

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Police in a Japanese city said a wild boar wandered into the area and led officers on an hours-long chase Wednesday morning.

The Fukuoka Prefectural Police said an officer on duty at the U.S. Consulate in the Chuo Ward of Fukuoka spotted the boar running loose around the nearby Ohori Park.

Officers began to pursue the boar about 6:05 a.m., and the animal led them on a chase through the center of the city that lasted until the wild pig's capture just before noon.

City officials said wild boar had never been spotted in the area before. Experts suggested the animal captured Wednesday might have become lost.

"Wild boars seeking other animals sometimes travel along river courses. Perhaps it was a young boar with little experience, which ended up lost in the city while looking for food," Kiyofumi Yasukouchi, a consultant at the city zoo, told The Mainichi newspaper.