Photo: Shutterstock / Instagram
"They've destroyed everything."
By Isaac Serna-Diez — Written on Sep 30, 2021
The pop star and singer was attacked by two wild boars yesterday, revealing the incident on her Instagram story and showing the destroyed handbag.
She said that she had been walking with her eight-year-old son Milan when the boars came up and snatched the bag away, taking it away and destroying it in the process.
Shakira recounted the wild boar attack for her followers.
The "Hips Don't Lie" singer said she "fought off" boars in a park in Barcelona.
"Look at how two wild boars which attacked me in the park have left my bag," she said in the video as she showed the dirty, torn-up bag.
"They were taking my bag to the woods with my mobile phone in it," the singer continued. "They've destroyed everything."
Shakira shares two kids, Sasha, 6, and Milan, 8, with Barcelona football player, Gerard Pique, 34. Pique and Sasha were not with them when the boars attacked.
However, the 44-year-old mother stood her ground, and fought off the boars and recovered the handbag.
After showing off the handbag, she turned to her son and said, “Milan tell the truth. Say how your mummy stood up to the wild boar."
Neither Milan nor Shakira seemed to be injured by the boars, and the status of the wild animals is unknown.
Wild boar attacks have become increasingly common in Spain.
While Shakira didn’t mention what time the attack occurred or in which park, boar sightings are not uncommon in Spain.
According to a report from The Guardian, police received 1,187 phone calls from people reporting trouble with boars in 2016.
They often travel through cities foraging for food and have been known to attack dogs, plunder cat-feeders, hold up traffic, and even run into cars in the city.
Since boars typically have very solid body builds, wild boars are particularly dangerous when involved in car accidents, potentially totaling cars that drive into them.
Boars have been classified as one of the most invasive species, are capable of surviving in any environment, and can carry a wide variety of diseases including hepatitis E, tuberculosis, and pathogenic E. coli.
Their numbers have grown exponentially in Europe, with estimates of their population reaching over 10 million across the continent.
Since they are becoming more aggressive and more of a nuisance over the years, some cities in Europe have developed strategies to reduce their numbers. In Berlin, urban hunters have killed thousands of the animals.
In 2013, one city police officer attempted to take charge of the problem himself and shot at a boar with his service revolver, but missed and hit his partner instead.
In the Italian capital of Rome, pictures of wild boars appearing inside parks and foraging through the traffic-filled streets have been going viral on social media in the last few weeks.
While it’s no surprise that a couple of boars attacked Shakira, it’s a good thing that no one was injured and that the only casualty was her handbag.
The Colombian-Lebanese performer is currently on trial for tax fraud in Spain — evading more than £12 million in taxes during the years 2012-2014.
She was charged in 2018 by a Spanish judge who deemed that there was enough evidence to take her to court, where she will likely plead not guilty.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.