A popular mountain scenic spot in China’s Sichuan Province allegedly allows visitors to chase after wild boars and even take them home for free if they can catch them with their bare hands.

Wild boars are some of the strongest and most dangerous animals one can find in the wild. They can weigh up to 300 kg (660 pounds), reach speeds of up to 70 km/h (43 mph) and can tear through almost anything with their sharp tusks. Boars are particularly vicious when cornered, so a tourist attraction where you can pay to risk your life trying to catch these animals using only your bare hands sounds nothing short of insane. However, it turns out that the Jiuhuang Mountain Scenic Area in Sichuan, China has been letting people chase after boars and keeping whatever they catch for at least a decade.

Photos and clips of people seemingly enjoying themselves while running after full-grown boars and trying to immobilize them with their bare hands recently went viral on Chinese social media, prompting many to wonder if the photos were genuine, and if so, what could make people risk their lives like that. As it turns out, this has been a very popular activity at the Jiuhuang Mountain Scenic Area since at least 2013, and no serious injuries have been reported since.

Some sources report that when the Jiuhuang Mountain scenic spot introduced the bizarre activity, not only did it allow people to take home the animal they caught completely free, but also rewarded them with a prize of 10,000 yuan ($1,400). The monetary incentive was scrapped at some point, but visitors can still walk away with the boar they manage to catch.

Getting to take home your catch is nothing to scoff of, but it doesn’t sound like the kind of prize people would risk their lives for. However, the Jiuhuang Mountain Scenic Area website clarifies that the wild boars aren’t really that wild. They are second-generation boars raised in captivity and have no tusks. That means their violent instincts are considerably suppressed and they can’t really maul people even if they wanted to. Still, there is a degree of risk, just not the kind of mortal danger associated with confronting wild boars.

 

Apart from paying the fee to be allowed to chase after wild boars at Jiuhuang Mountain, the only other rule appears to be using only your hands. Sows with piglets and young boars under 30 kilograms cannot be “collected” as prizes.