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.