Rare footage of wild boars on a fishing expedition

Some 15 adult wild boars and their young came to shores of Lake Ubsu-Nur during the spawning of scaly osman fish. Seen in the Ubsunur Hollow Biosphere Reserve in Tuva Republic in mountainous southern Siberia, they caught the fish untroubled by the presence of people in a boat nearby.

Alexander Kuksin, deputy director of the reserve, said: 'This was the first time we witnessed the proof of wild boars adapting to the territory it populates, as well as seeing this big family going to catch spawning scaly osman. 

'Wild boars are omnivores, but we have never seen them eating fish, nor actually fishing. They normally look for food on dry land, feeding on tubers, roots, seeds and berries. 

'It was so fascinating indeed to watch these usually extremely cautious animals pay no attention to us. We were in the boat just 20 metres away from them, but they were so taken by the process of catching and eating fish they didn't even turn their heads to us. It was a very interesting meeting.'

He said: 'We have no record of wild boars fishing in our republic, not a single mention in our reserve's archive.'

There are reports of wild boars fishing in Kazakhstan, and in the Volga Delta.

'I heard about a couple of similar cases in Kazakhstan, where animals also lived close to lakes, but this is the first recorded case in Republic of Tuva,' he said.

'We believe that fishing is a sign of Tuva's boars adaptation to living in the near-lake area, and that it is most pronounced during scaly osman spawning season.'