quality and presumably low risk of being contaminated with foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella spp. and/or
Yersinia spp.1 The microbiological quality of game meat depends on several factors, among which the most
important are the health of the animal before being shot, the skill and the attitude of the hunter including the
anatomical shooting location, and the level of hygiene applied during handling carcasses (including collection,
evisceration, skinning and chilling)2. Several authors have investigated the microbiological status of wild boar
carcass meat, considering the level of general contamination (Total Viable Count, TVC) and faecal contamination
(Enterobacteriaceae count, EBC)1,3. However, such studies on wild boars hunted in Serbia are lacking in the
literature. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to investigate the microbiological status of wild boar carcass
meat and determine the likely cause for its contamination. Several factors that might influence carcass meat
contamination, i.e. the level of microbiological contamination of the skin, anatomical shooting location and hygienic
practice during handling and evisceration of carcasses, were investigated.