Hundreds of seedlings in a plant nursery in Daya Bay were destroyed by wild boars, the Daily Sunshine reported Tuesday.

The boars were first sighted in the nursery in October, the report quoted a nursery worker surnamed Huang as saying.

Boars were frequently seen in the area about 20 years ago, Huang said, but were seldom seen in recent years.

One morning a few days ago, Huang got up to find about 10 boars in the nursery. Two were about 70 to 80 kilograms while the rest were about 20 to 30 kilograms, Huang said. The boars ran off when Huang disturbed them.

Huang then found scores of seedlings destroyed.

Nursery workers said rural residents near the garden had killed several boars in recent years but the people moved away last year as the area was to be used by the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant.

The workers said they had set up 20-meter iron fences to keep the boars out but they don't want the boars' shot.

"We hope humans and boars can coexist in the area," they said.

(Shenzhen Daily January 5, 2005)