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isitors to West Sumbawa now have a chance to join local residents on a maen bai, or wild boar hunt.

Farmers in this remote regency in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) are hunting boar, but not for sport.

The maen bai is a ritual hunt, where farmers go on walkabout in a group, using traditional weapons and dogs to kill boar that might eat their crops during dry season.

The unique tradition prompted the West Sumbawa administration to include the maen bai on the list of principal tourist attractions in the regency.

West Sumbawa recently held a maen bai in the hills near Bintang Bano in Brang Rea district.

More than 40 groups of farmers from several districts in the regency took part.

Each group comprised 30 to 35 men and around eight dogs. The men all wore traditional Sumbawa spears known as foke, among other weapons.

“The wild boar usually come to our farmland during the dry season and damage our crops. That’s why we routinely hunt wild boar during the season,” Kasim, 48, a farmer from Tepas village, said.

Kasim said that the maen bai was an ancient tradition handed down from generation to generation.

In the dry season in West Sumbawa, residents in Tepas usually grow corn, cassava or potatoes.

“A good, trained dog might be worth up to Rp 5 million [US$525]. The dog will lead us to the wild boar. Then we use spears to kill the boar,” Kasim said.

West Sumbawa Regent KH Zulkifli Muhadli said that the maen bai, which is also called nyanyang, had become a local tourist attraction in the area this year.

“I praise the people of West Sumbawa who still keep this tradition alive. The ritual can potentially draw more tourists to the region,” Zulkifli said.

The regent, however, reminded local residents not to damage the environment as they stalked wild boar, as in some cases farmers have accidentally slaughtered deer instead of boar during the hunt.

“We keep telling them to help us preserve the deer population. We underline that their goal is principally to hunt boar, not deer,” Zulkifli said.

The head of the West Sumbawa Tourism Agency, Awanadhi Aswinabawa, said that the agency would promote the maen bai tradition as part of the 2012 Visit Lombok-Sumbawa program.

NTB Governor Zainul Madji previously touted the program to lure foreign tourists, especially those from the Middle East, to the area.

The province has also promoted the Bima Horse Festival, which features child jockeys; the Lombok Begendeng festival, featuring a local drum, among other things, Zainul said.