[Peewit]

A Kent wildlife park is celebrating the birth of a litter of boar piglets. Video on top right hand side of page Title: Piglet Joy for Boar Lovers

http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/sear...o.x=19&go.y=12

This is an interesting short video, stating that there could be 400 Boars running wild in Britain, and they have no protection at all. Makes us think!

[Amarillo]

Theres a lot more than 400.

1000-2000 is more likely

[Gill Osborne]

They probably kept the estimate down so folk wouldn't freak out the way they always do

[DavidP]

Defra had a public consultation on how to manage wild boar populations and as above I suspect theres more about than current estimates.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-cou...oar.htm#status

I understand they are already hunted to some extent in some areas but this isn't managed by defra as yet. In all probability there will be hunting restrictions imposed (close season, limits), although if you look at the public consultations eradication was the most popular option.

[Amarillo]

Originally Posted by DavidP

although if you look at the public consultations eradication was the most popular option.

The most popular of the three given (44%), but that still means the majority - 56% don't want them eradicated.

Fortunately for the boar and those in favour of having them back, the ridiculous amount of time it has taken for DEFRA to address the issue has meant that they are now too widespread for eradication to be a viable option.

[DavidP]

Originally Posted by Amarillo

The most popular of the three given (44%), but that still means the majority - 56% don't want them eradicated.

Fortunately for the boar and those in favour of having them back, the ridiculous amount of time it has taken for DEFRA to address the issue has meant that they are now too widespread for eradication to be a viable option.

I agree eradication is improbable at this point thankfully. However I wonder what the response would be if there was a foot and mouth outbreak in an area with an endemic boar population, they would be a lot of pressure for local eradication.

Also does anyone know to what extent the boar roaming about are pure wild boar or wild boar/domestic pig hybrids. I understand the hybrids were widely used in the boar farms as being easier to handle and gave larger litter sizes. I know they look like wild boar but I wonder what's the degree of hybridisation with domestic pigs in the population. Probably doesn't matter in the long run I guess.

Anyway glad there back and surprised they haven't spread faster, I suspect theres quite a bit of hunting going on.

[Farnboro John]

Originally Posted by DavidP

I agree eradication is improbable at this point thankfully. However I wonder what the response would be if there was a foot and mouth outbreak in an area with an endemic boar population, they would be a lot of pressure for local eradication.

Also does anyone know to what extent the boar roaming about are pure wild boar or wild boar/domestic pig hybrids. I understand the hybrids were widely used in the boar farms as being easier to handle and gave larger litter sizes. I know they look like wild boar but I wonder what's the degree of hybridisation with domestic pigs in the population. Probably doesn't matter in the long run I guess.

Anyway glad there back and surprised they haven't spread faster, I suspect theres quite a bit of hunting going on.

I doubt if eradication would be attempted in the event of foot and mouth outbreak. To be effective it would have to include combinations of Muntjac, CWD, Roe, Fallow, Sika and Red Deer as well as local Wild Boar. A cull would be likely to be incomplete and the effort put in to attempt it would (a) spread the disease on the feet of the hunters/beaters and (b) chase the animals from their essentially sedentary lives into new areas, thus also increasing the spread of the disease.

Martin Goulding's website (britishwildboar) gives his view on boar/pig hybridisation in British populations. He seems fairly sure the bigger, established ones are pure.

There is a fair bit of poaching going on, which with an animal as robust and potentially dangerous (but remember any large animal can be dangerous, people get killed by Red Deer etc and no-one suggests eradicating them) is worrying. A Boar with a butt full of buckshot is likely to be bad tempered. As with deer I have no objection to properly controlled hunting with appropriate weapon calibres and bullet weights.

However, let me repeat my own experience: in East Sussex every boar I have ever encountered has run away as soon as it has detected me. They are pretty much nocturnal now (weren't when I started looking for them a few years ago) reflecting hunting pressure. You are not likely to fall over one during the day and you are much less likely to be attacked by one.

I am quite surprised and definitely disappointed that the public reaction to them was not more positive. Hopefully Simon King's much publicised Forest of Dean encounter will have reset a lot of the public's minds.

John

[Amarillo]

As far as I know the extent of purity is not really known, but the consensus seems to be that they are "pure enough" from a biodiversity point of view.

Yes I am also surprised at the slow spread. I think they are culled at quite a rate down in Sussex/Kent, but in other areas they may be given more of a chance. From what I've heard the forest of Dean population seems to be growing rapidly.

[Perdix]

For anybody with an interest in British boar populations I recommend visiting:


http://www.britishwildboar.org.uk/

I am yet to see a boar in Britain - for the moment I think Defra should concentrate on setting out close seasons and firearms restrictions on them.

I heard somewhere of a boar found dead by the side of the road full of shotgun pellets of several sizes, with a snare around its nose and numerous other injuries resulting from failed capture attempts!

[Amarillo]

Originally Posted by Farnboro John

I am quite surprised and definitely disappointed that the public reaction to them was not more positive.

Bear in mind that only a few interested parties were involved in the consultation (you can see a list at the end of the document), no doubt a large proportion of farmers.

A wider public view would almost certainly be more positive.

Any chance you could give me some tips on where to see the boar in Britain? (send me a private message if its sensitive info) need to get out there and find one sometime!

[jurek]

DEFRA and other interested groups should quickly copy approach of Germany, where wild boar is common game animal. There is (since decades) working knowledge about everything about wild boars. Including how to cook them best.

Certainly things written here are worrying. No closed hunting season for breeding sows is plain cruelty. Shooting with small pellets and no obligation to track wounded boars can result in some spectacular accidents.

Apologies to famous English pride that nothing in England is similar to Continent and everything should be invented anew.

[Amarillo]

Originally Posted by jurek

DEFRA and other interested groups should quickly copy approach of Germany, where wild boar is common game animal. There is (since decades) working knowledge about everything about wild boars. Including how to cook them best.

Certainly things written here are worrying. No closed hunting season for breeding sows is plain cruelty. Shooting with small pellets and no obligation to track wounded boars can result in some spectacular accidents.

Of course they should, and the recent consultation aims to implement a close-season and minimum specifications of pellets etc. DEFRA have just taken a ridiculously long time over the whole process, and in the meantime, yes there is the risk of accidents.

Apologies to famous English pride that nothing in England is similar to Continent and everything should be invented anew.

I'm not sure this is relevant here, its just pure incompetance.

[DavidP]

I hope they do come up with close seasons etc, although I think I read somewhere that they can breed at any time of the year. Witness the recent Simon king Autumnwatch episode in the Forest of Dean with quite young piglets and that was in November I think. I guess if the boar are domestic/wild hybrids they will have strange breeding season patterns as the domestics have been selected for maximum fecundity over millenia and so may upset the natural breeding seasons of the wild boar population. Below is from Defra site about the legal use of rifles for shooting wild boar. Sounds like there is some legal requirement at least in firearm licences


"Police Firearms Licensing Branches require that wild boar are specifically listed on an individual's firearms certificate (FAC) before they may use a rifle to shoot wild boar. They do not consider the term "other vermin", which often appears on FACs to permit the culling of species such as foxes, to include wild boar. The most suitable type of firearm for shooting wild boar is a centre-fire rifle comparable with those permitted for deer culling under the Deer Act 1991. However, the minimum calibre permitted for deer is widely considered to be inadequate to ensure a clean kill for wild boar. Police guidance suggests a minimum calibre of .270 Winchester, or its metric equivalent (see Home Office; Firearms Law: Guidance to the Police, 2002) and a FAC will normally only be endorsed for shooting of wild boar if the rifle held is of .270 calibre or larger. Wild boar will normally only be added to a FAC if the holder has authority to shoot on land within an area known to have wild boar present."


http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-cou...r.htm#shooting

[Farnboro John]

Originally Posted by Amarillo

Bear in mind that only a few interested parties were involved in the consultation (you can see a list at the end of the document), no doubt a large proportion of farmers.

A wider public view would almost certainly be more positive.

Any chance you could give me some tips on where to see the boar in Britain? (send me a private message if its sensitive info) need to get out there and find one sometime!

I don't think it is sensitive these days, certainly you can get sites for all the major populations from Richie Moore's book.

My own working area is in Beckley Woods near the East Sussex/Kent border.

From the A268 in Beckley take a B-road South, then turn onto the first minor road east (probably signposted to Udimore). Keep going till you turn onto another minor road called Starvecrow Lane. Not far along there is a gate on the left, with a Forest Enterprise sign labelled Beckley Forest. Park up and follow the broad track past the barrier, down through a slight S-bend onto a downhill sloping stretch with a pine plantation on the right. There are lots of boar paths in and out of both sides, hoofprints everywhere, snouting marks along the track.

There are other suitable tracks in Beckley Woods but thatr one is my favourite.

Dusk watches are best, action tends to start after the first Tawny Owls call -but you might get lucky and have some come out earlier. They spook easily. They will be attracted to bait, I have used chopped spuds, carrots, apples and onions in a mix before and they came out right on the bait.

Good luck and be prepared to persist. Some of my friends have taken up to 4visits to get a sighting - its taken me years to get pictures!

John