Human beings tend to define the landscape as a theatre in which they are both author and spectator of their own representations[1]. This assumption leads us to observe space predominantly through an anthropocentric perception, placing the other-animal as a marginal element while developing intentional blindness[2]. What happens, therefore, when flora and fauna invade spaces that man feels are indisputably his own? An "out-of-context" location reminds human beings of their vulnerability and the "sylvan" proliferating in the spaces of order imposes the need to identify new conceptual and operational paths. One phenomenon activating these processes, common to several European regions, is the increasing population density of the wild boar (Sus scrofa) even in urban areas[3]. Its physiological and ethological characteristics determine physical changes in the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems, modifying habitats[4]. This is the case in the study proposed, in which this phenomenon was analysed through a social geography investigation in which, using the methodology of the unstructured interview, it was studied how the territorial perception of the population and some speciesist territorialisation practices have been challenged by the expansion of the wild boar's habitat in the urban and peri-urban area of Rome[5].
[1]See: E. Turri, Il paesaggio come teatro: dal territorio vissuto al territorio rappresentato. Marsilio, Venice, 1998.
[2]D. Simons, C. Chabris, Gorillas in Our Midst: Sustained Inattentional Blindness for Dynamic Events in Perception, vol. 28, no. 9, 1999, pp. 1059-1074.
[3]G. Massei, et al. Wild boar populations up, numbers of hunters down? A review of trends and implications for Europe in Pest management science vol. 71, no.4, 2015, 492-500.
[4]C. G. Jones, et al. Organisms as ecosystem engineers. Oikos. 69, 373-386.
[5]S. Amendolia et al. Seasonal spatial ecology of the wild boar in a peri-urban area in Mamamal Research 64, 2019, 387-396.
Mots clés : antispecist Geografy|Social Geografy|wild boar (sus scrofa)|Sylvan|urban and peri-urban area of Rome
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