Wild Boars Arrive at the Haifa District Science Fair 

During the 2019–2020 academic year, students from Leo Baeck Middle-High School in Haifa participated in a citizen science study involving observations, data collection and processing, and the use of advanced applications in wildlife research. The study was conducted under the guidance of the Beit Pinchas Biological Institute. The research project, carried out by three students from the scientific-technological track, was recognized for excellence at the district science fair. The students examined how rainfall intensity affects the presence of wild boars in their neighborhood. The study compared two neighborhoods with extensive urban nature: Vardiya, located on the eastern ridge of Mount Carmel, and French Carmel, located on the northwestern ridge of the Carmel. The factor examined was wild boar activity — their presence or signs thereof, such as tracks, rootings (food chewed and spat out by wild boars), digging in the ground, droppings, and overturned garbage bins. For the final paper, the students made use of observations collected through the "Nature Israel" organization's "I Saw a Boar" app, as well as observations collected by classmates in an online database. Through a data sorting process, the students isolated the most relevant data points.

Project coordinator: Tzvia Abadi, Biological Institute, Haifa.