A large wild boar had to be shot dead on Thursday after wandering into an Italian primary school and injuring a caretaker.

The number of boar is on the increase in Italy, with small herds and individuals frequently spotted on the outskirts of cities such as Rome, Bologna and Genoa, often in search of food dumped in rubbish bins.

In the latest incursion, the boar entered the grounds of an elementary school in Palermo in Sicily.

The Forestry Corps was alerted and an officer shot the animal dead with a rifle.

“One of our caretakers was injured in the leg,” said Carola Butera, the deputy head of the school. “The boar wandered around for a while. It went through a gate but remained in the garden. We were worried so we called everyone we could think of – the police, the fire brigade, the Carabinieri, the Forestry Corps.”

Forestry officers said putting down the animal was the only option.