HANGZHOU, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Hangzhou, one of the most popular tourist cities in China, is waging a week-long campaign to hunt down and kill wild pigs, whose boldness has seen them frighten tourists at the famed West Lake, and even invade a hospital.

The campaign began on Monday, and forestry staff members were told to cull no more than 50 boars found in the West Lake Scenery Area at Hangzhou's West Lake District, said Zhu Xiaohu, of the district's Forestry and Water Resources Bureau.

Police would also get a slice of the action, as they were under orders to guard road junctions to prevent humans being injured by the boars, Zhu said.

"Hunting is banned inside the scenery area, and 'hunters' were told to drive boars to other places before killing them," he said.

A separate hunt-and-kill campaign has been going on since Nov. 1 in the three townships of Liuxia, Longwu and Zhouwu surrounding the West Lake Scenery Area, and professional hunting teams were ordered to kill no more than 50 boars, too. The campaign will last till the end of this month.

"The number of wild boars in the three townships is estimated to be around 1,000," a hunter surnamed Chen told Xinhua.

Although no official figures are available about the number of boars inside the West Lake Scenery Area, which has about 50,000 mu (3,333.3 hectares) forests, local experts believe the number is greater than in any other areas in Hangzhou.

"You can find lots of footprints of wild boars in the scenery area's forests," Zhu said.

GROWING NUMBER OF WILD BOARS

Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, has been billed as a "paradise on earth". The West Lake Scenery Area, a famous tourist attraction, has however become a haven for wild boars in recent years.

Wild hogs appeared in residential quarters of downtown Hangzhou as early as 2002, recalled a resident Lian Bogen.

"Their sightings inside the West Lake Scenery Area and other downtown areas are getting more common and are no longer treated as news," Lian said.

Zhu Xiaohu attributed the frequent appearances of wild boars to the city's forest conservation efforts, hunting ban, and decrease of the number of the animal's natural enemies such as wolf and tiger in the past years.

"China's strict policy on gun control is also an important reason," he said.

Though no exact record of assaults or injuries made by wild pigs inside West Lake Scenery Area is kept, their presence is not welcomed by locals and has hit tourism.

A woman surnamed Zhu, a resident, said she bumped into a wild pig several years ago when she was climbing the mountain near Lingyin Temple, but was surprised at the presence of wild pigs in large numbers inside the much-visited West Lake Scenery Area.

"I know wild pigs won't take the initiative to attack human beings, but it's dangerous if someone doesn't know that," said Zhu.

"I have warned my mom of the danger -- she likes to do morning exercises around the Botanical Garden and the road to Lingyin Temple," she said.

Most tourists do not visit West Lake Scenery Area at night, when pigs are more likely to come out.

"I prefer visiting the West Lake during the day because it is the most beautiful time, the most important thing is that wild pigs won't appear during daytime," said a tourist surnamed Zhang.

"I do shopping at night," she said.

CULLING FOR ECOLOGICAL BALANCE

The hunt-and-kill drive at the West Lake Scenery Area and neighboring townships are actually parts of a province-wide campaign under orders of the Zhejiang Provincial Forestry Department and Public Security Department, Zhu Xiaohu said.

The campaign, lasting from Oct. 20 till Nov. 30, has been carried out in the name of "getting rid of a public enemy" to protect people from injury or damage to their property, Zhu said.

Zhejiang's forestry authorities estimate the current number of wild boars in the province to be more than 100,000, up from 29,000in 2000, due to the improvement of ecological environment.

Zhejiang has launched similar campaigns to kill wild boars in recent years, and 1,360 were killed last year, Zhu said.

Culling wild pigs is not always popular in China. In June 2006 plans to cull 100 wild boars in the northeastern Heilongjiang Province were scuppered by public opposition.

Zhejiang's regulations on wildlife protection allow local authorities to "properly control" the population of a certain wild animal species if it is expanding too fast, noting that serves "ecological balance."

In addition, wild boars do not enjoy privileged protection on Zhejiang's wildlife protection list, Zhu said.

Previous reports quoted an official with the State Forestry Administration (SFA) as saying that the wild boar was listed among a group of wild animals which could be used for "scientific research and economic purposes".

China has attached great importance to protecting wild animals and adhered to the principle of sustainable growth of wild animals' populations, he said.

"To control their (wild boar's) number is also a step to achieve a balance for ecological environment," he said.

"Certain species of animals are likely to pose a threat to others if their population expands too fast, such as wild boars versus snakes," he added.