Wildlife in the city

Although quite populated, Belgium is also a natural area with wild animals. Foxes, weasels, rabbits, boars and others can be observed all over the country, especially in the Ardennes, but they can even be found in big cities like Brussels.

A census

In order to know which species going well, which ones need protection and which ones are dangerous or too invasive, a new census is organised by Natagora, Natuurpunt and Bruxelles Environnement. The idea is for locals to indicate when and where they see a wild mammal in Brussels. On their website, participants are invited to add pictures and data of what they observe on an atlas of the city. It is very useful information because the last census was 15 years ago and animal populations keep moving and changing in size.

Fluffy opportunist 

Red foxes can be found in the whole of Belgium, but they have become very common in Brussels, not only in the green areas like the Soigne forest, but also in the city center. It is actually a recent phenomenon because it wasn't the case 30 years ago. Fox families have come from Flemish rural zones and adapted to their new, urban environment. Some people might find them annoying because of their mating calls, which sound like a woman screaming (which is quite scary for such cute animals), usually heard in February, or because they may dig holes (earths) in people's gardens.

Nevertheless, be reassured, Belgian foxes are not dangerous at all. They don't fight with cats or dogs (they do hunt rats and mice though) and they never attack humans, being quite shy animals. More importantly, rabies is totally eradicated among foxes in Belgium, so there shouldn't be any risk. If you see them, be silent if you want to observe these beautiful animals, but never feed them as it could make them become lazy and invasive.

They're coming back!

Another animal was dealt with a lot in press recently, the wolf. After more than a century (when the last specimen was killed in Virton), populations of wolves are coming back to Belgium. It is not yet the case but it will happen, because some have been observed in recent years in the bordering countries (France, the Netherlands and Germany). This video showing was filmed in a Dutch city not far from Belgium:

Running fast, wolves can walk for around 200 km a day so it can't be difficult for them to cross the borders. Normally, they should greatly favour South-Eastern zones of the country, like the High Fens, less populated and covered with forests. Anyway, don't be scared, because wolves are scared of human beings!

The capital of rabbits and parrots

The city of Brussels is also a place for strange groupings of animals. If you take a walk in the city for a while, you will probably come across flocks of rabbits, for example around Brussels No(o)rd station. You might also hear high-pitched noises made by one of the 10 000 (or more) rose-ringed parrots (more specifically "parakeets"), exotic birds from tropical regions of Africa and Asia, who have settled in the capital, giving it a Latin feeling. This species is pretty rare in Walloon cities and I have no idea how they arrived there.

Don't mess up with these...

Wild boars aren't rare in Belgium although more discrete and for some people they are scary and/or annoying. These nervous swines are known for destroying people's garden and being a little agressive. I have personally never seen any in the wild, but two hikers got the fright of their life in a Belgian village and their video got viral:

Note that the ponies are not really chasing the wild boar out to save the hikers, but rather running around it as a game, probably...

Listen to Belgian accents and dialects!

"Nonante", "septante"... these are some famous Belgicisms that foreigners learn when they visit the country to speak French. But the difference is also in the accent, or the accents even, because depending on the region you come from, you might get one of the specific local accents. Check out a recent YouTube video to listen to samples of people speaking French in various Belgian accents. Another video will show you the variety of local dialects and languages of Wallonia!

Ten examples of Belgian accents in French

1) Flemish accent (okay the speaker's accent is very slight!)
2) Brussels accent (actually an exagerated drunk version of it!)
3) Brussels-Walloon accent, a sort of "norm" in Francophone Belgium
4) Belgian Picard accent (similar to a Northern French accent)
5) Charleroi accent
6) Namur accent
7) Liège accent (very particular tone)
8) Verviers accent (the one where nasal vowels are not nasal, actually this accent is also heard in Liège)
9) Belgian German-speaker accent

This list is non-exhaustive, because there are as many accents and gradations of them as there are cities and social classes in Belgium (e.g. there is a posh Brussels-Brabant accent!).

Ten languages/dialects spoken in the Walloon region

 

Romance languages:

1) Eastern Walloon dialect (Liège)

2) Central Walloon dialect (Namur)

3) Walloon-Picard (West): a transition with the neighbouring Picard dialects
4) Walloon-Lorrain (South): also a transition, but with Lorrain this time
5) Lorrain (Gaume): this Lorrain dialect is spoken in the extreme South of Belgium
6) Picard: very similar to Picard or Ch'ti spoken in France
7) Champenois: a very small area in the South-West speaks a dialect similar to that in Champagne

Germanic languages:
1) Moselle Franconian (or Luxembourgish)
2) Ripuarian (similar to what is spoken in Cologne)
3) Platdiets or Limburgish-Ripuarian (a dialect with mixed German-Dutch influences)

Overweight and unhealthy Belgians?

The results of a study show Belgians have the third unhealthiest eating habits in the world... It is not surprising in a country where waffles and chocolate are national prides, but one shouldn't see these results as a representation of what Belgium is globally (hopefully!). Let's see why.
 
A recent survey directed by Dr Fumiaki Imamura, from Cambridge University, and published in newspaper Lancet Global Health scrutinised eating habits of some 187 countries in the world between years 1990 and 2010. Sadly, Belgium appears to be the third country in the top which has the most unhealthiest eating habits in the world, according to this survey. It comes right after Armenia and Hungary, where the habits are apparently the worst ones, and are followed by Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Belarus and the rest of them, way ahead of the USA!... It is very strange for us to realise it, because we always picture Americans as being overweight with very relaxed views on what they eat.

Well, on the other hand, Belgium also has as national dishes chocolate, waffles, fries (including fries sandwiches!) and a number of sauces to go with it, and as national drink... beer of course! These are not examples of healthy eating habits, but most countries also have their own high-calorie meals (sausages, haggis, Leberkäse, kebab, etc.) and it didn't change their position in the top.

Although the country has the lowest proportion of McDonald's per inhabitant, Belgium has a lot of fast-food restaurants available... And that's because, well, we have our own fast-food chain, Quick, which has later been redeemed by a French company but is still the leader in Belgium. And in general, people have globally embraced unhealthy eating habits as part of their culture. Frituur/friture places, which are small houses or caravans that sell fries and some other greasy meals, have always been all over the country, although kebab restaurants tend to be in competition with them.

Comparatively, two other studies by the ISP (Belgian public health institute) suggested that Belgians didn't take enough care of their health. One stated that only 12% of the population claimed they ate five fruits and vegetables per day. Another one said the general Belgian BMI (Body Mass Index) was around 25.4, which is considered overweight! Ouch...

Yet, the Cambridge University's study also indicates that, in general, people in the world (including Belgians) tend to eat more fruits and vegetables, so that also healthy eating habits increase in parallel. It was not until a few years ago that organic food shops have popped up in different cities. Their disadvantage is the higher price, of course, but this business seems to be popular among a certain type of people. In my opinion, women, university students (interested in sustainable and ecological development) and richer families are more often into these things. The survey indeed pointed out that, in general, youngsters and men tend to eat less healthy.


Another trendy business these days consists in slow-food restaurants, i.e. restaurants that serve better quality burger and fries for a bit more money, and I have seen them in different Belgian cities (it isn't difficult to find one close to your location in Brussels for instance: Houtsiplout, Balmoral, Manhattn's, etc.).

Similarly, a recent Flemish Internet fad called Dagen Zonder Vlees consists in getting vegetarian for fourty days. It comes as a Facebook challenge, mirroring the centuries-long tradition of Lent fasting (occurring around the same period) in a non-religious way, just like one would get a stach for the whole of "Movember"!

All in all, Belgium has a tradition of calor(if)ic food eating and it is only slowly changing, but flourishing businesses like organic food shops or slow-food restaurants (as well as efforts made by politics to fight against unhealthy food at school) could also change the face of Belgians, and probably one day the cliché of Belgians being fat waffle eaters...