[imagesource: Adele Landauer/ Facebook]

There is a strong tradition of naturism in Germany, and in summer it is quite normal for people to strip off in parks.

That’s all fine until nature gets involved in unexpected ways.

Earlier this month, a nude sunbather in Berlin had an encounter with a wild boar that went viral on social media.

The man was enjoying the sun in the buff, when the boar and her babies strolled over to inspect his property. After she ate a bit of pizza out of his backpack, she went looking for seconds and decided on takeaway.

The boar took the man’s laptop bag and left with it, which is when things really took off.

In a rather glorious sequence of events, captured in action shots taken by Adele Landauer, and then posted on Facebook, the man proceeded to chase down the boar.

I’ve included the image above in the photo-story below to give you a real sense of how this all played out.

To start, the boar snaps up the bag and strolls off. The man casually walks after it to retrieve his property.

The boar realises what’s happening and picks up speed.

This one is self-explanatory.

The man in the photos gave Landauer permission to post the pictures. In retrospect, he found the whole thing quite funny. He might have felt differently if he hadn’t managed to retrieve his bag.

According to The Guardian, the boar has become a regular visitor at the park, and it’s here that things take a nasty twist.

Authorities are now suggested that she should be killed.

“This wild sow and her two young is a frequent visitor at Teufelssee,” Katja Kammer, the head of the forestry office in the district of Grunewald told the broadcaster RBB.

“They phlegmatically forage in broad daylight over the grass looking for food wherever there are bathers. They have lost all sense of shyness.”

Kammer, she’s a boar. You can’t expect her to maintain decorum according to your standards.

The boar has been named Elsa, and has shared her home with sunbathers for years without incident.

Kammer’s remarks have launched a campaign to save Elsa through a group, Action Fair Play, that organised a protest.

“A few days ago pictures appeared in the media of a man in the nudist section of Teufelssee chasing a female wild boar which had run off with his laptop in a bag,” the organisers said in a statement.

“These pictures delighted people around the world. Only the forestry office appeared to get no pleasure from them, deciding instead to shoot the sow and her young.”

A petition on Change.org calling for the rescue of the “cheeky but peaceful sow from Teufelssee” has collected more than 9 000 signatures, at the time of writing.

Berlin’s forestry commission is reserving judgement on Elsa’s fate, saying that it is the “wrong time of year” to shoot her, because she has babies.

Let’s hope the protesters keep it up.

#SaveElsa.

[source:guardian]