Shakira Recalls 'Crazy' Encounter with Wild Boars: 'People Were Just Watching'

Shakira said wild boars "destroyed" her purse after they approached her and her son in a Barcelona park in September

Published on November 2, 2021 11:55 AM

Sometimes, not even being an international, Grammy-winning pop star can save you from the wrath of wild boars — just ask Shakira.

The "She Wolf" singer made headlines in September after she said she and her 8-year-old son were attacked in a Barcelona park by a pair of boars who snatched her purse and "destroyed" it.

In a new interview with Glamour UK, Shakira, 44, opened up about the bizarre incident, and said it happened completely out of the blue.

"It's just crazy! I was taking my son, Milan, for a walk in the park and I got him a little ice cream," she recalled. "We sat on one of those park benches and we were just minding our own business. And then two huge wild boars came from the back and ambushed [us] and took my purse!"

The singer said she began yelling as the boars made off with her belongings, but despite her cries, no one else in the park stepped in to offer a helping hand.

"I was like, 'Oh my God! Oh my God!' and screaming, because they were taking it away, with my phone in it, my car keys, everything," she said. "Like they could understand me! And people were just watching and they weren't doing anything!"

Shakira said that the boars began digging in her purse, and that they eventually grabbed her son's sandwich from the bag, which she believes is what attracted them in the first place.

"It was wild," she added.

The incident happened in late September, and at the time, Shakira shared details to her Instagram Story in a video captured by the Daily Mail.

"Look at how two wild boars, which attacked me in the park, have left my bag. They were taking my bag to the woods with my mobile phone in it," she said in the video. "They've destroyed everything."

In the clip, she showed off the torn black bag, which was covered in dirt and had begun fraying inside, and said she was able to retrieve it after she confronted the animals and they left.

"Milan, tell the truth," she told her son in the clip, according to the BBC. "Say how your mummy stood up to the wild boar."

Shakira shares Milan and his brother Sasha, 6, with her longtime partner Gerard Piqué, 34. The family of four recently stopped by the Balloon World Cup in Barcelona, where Piqué plays soccer, to pose on the red carpet.

Though Shakira's encounter with the boars might seem rare, wild boar sightings have been on the rise in Europe in recent years. In 2016, police in Barcelona received 1,187 calls reporting the animals attacking dogs and holding up traffic, according to the BBC.

The outlet reported that there are now more than 10 million wild boars across the continent, and that they are heading to cities because they're attracted to trash piles in the streets.