Report from Chris Smith
Wild Boar - Back, Armed and Dangerous
By Nell Raven, PA Features in the Scotsman 21 st January 2004
Back in medieval times, getting hold of a pound of sausages was a lot
riskier than it is now.
Wild boars were up to four times the weight of friendly farmyard pigs,
with huge razor-sharp tusks and a temper to match.
Legend has it that a woman archer narrowly saved Henry VIII's bacon
when she shot a wild boar just before it gored him.
Now 300 years after they were hunted to extinction, the fearsome
creatures have re-established themselves in the wild and are once
again causing havoc.
Adam Quinney, a Warwickshire livestock farmer, said: "They are like a
pig with attitude. When they are cornered and feel threatened they
turn very vicious and charge people."
In parts of Warwickshire and Herefordshire, an increasing population
of wild boar is causing problems for farmers by disturbing livestock
and causing damage to crops. In separate incidents, the animals have
been blamed for savaging a heifer, knocking down an elderly woman, and
even impregnating some captive sows.
Matthew Price, group secretary for the National Farmers' Union in
Ledbury and Ross-on-Wye, said he was concerned for public safety. "A
sow with piglets is extremely dangerous. They are impressively large
creatures, very fast and very aggressive."
Unlike many British species that have become extinct, wild boar
existed in Britain long after the Roman occupation.
At the time of the Norman Conquest, very severe laws were passed
against any one who would kill them, except in legitimate chase, and
documents show the animal continued to be hunted in a wild state right
up until the 16th century, before finally becoming extinct from
Britain in 1683.
Wild boar farms were set up in the last century and after the 1987
hurricane ripped up fencing, free-living and expanding populations
became established in Kent, East Sussex and Dorset. There have also
been regular sightings in Scotland and Humberside.
The number of wild boar in Britain is estimated at 500, and
populations are increasing at such a rate that many are now being
killed, both by farmers protecting their livelihoods, and sporting
shooters hunting them for trophies and meat.
Quinney said: "If you've got a farming situation where they are
causing damage, I think it is reasonable to cull them.
"Unless a farmer is prepared to put up high fences around every single
field, there is no other way of controlling them."
He added that farmers would be unlikely to compromise with
environmental groups in favour of their reintroduction.
"At the end of the day, farmers have to make a profit, and unless they
were going to be paid to allow wild boars on their land, they would
reluctant to team up with groups who have a different agenda.
"Two or three wild boars is fine, but with a whole group, you might
have a problem."
Charlie Jacoby, the editor of Sporting Shooter magazine, said wild
boar shooting was set to become the "next big thing" for trophy hunters.
"It is incredibly exciting, much better than boring old pheasants. You
hear the crack of twigs and suddenly an animal the size of a
motorbike, and with much more acceleration, is standing 30ft away.
"You've got to be quick and you have to keep your nerve."
Not surprisingly, Jacoby is in favour of reintroducing the species. "I
think shoots should release boars and get a breeding stock going, in
the same way they release pheasants, partridges and deer.
"People who come over here to shoot pheasants spend six times what the
average tourist pays ö so imagine how much they'd pay for boar shooting.
"Although some farmers who have had their crops damaged might be
against their reintroduction, there are plenty of sporting farmers who
would support it."
The wild boar is not the only big mammal to be hunted to extinction in
the British Isles.
Wolves were quite numerous when the Romans arrived, but they were
wiped out through deforestation and hunting.
The last wolf south of the Scottish border was believed to have been
killed sometime in the 1480s, but there is a story that in the 1540s
the young Lady Jane Grey was attacked by a wolf which she killed with
a small hunting knife and a stick.
The last positive record of wolf presence was in Sutherland in 1691,
where the very large sum of £6.13s was paid for the animal.
Beavers once lived throughout the country, but were hunted to
extinction because of the value of castoreum (a glandular secretion),
their pelts and their tails, which were commonly eaten in the Middle
Ages. The last record of a beaver in England was made in 1526.
Their presence is born out by place names such as Beverley in the East
Riding of Yorkshire, which was originally called Beverlac, the place
or lake of beavers, and Bevere Island on the Severn at Grimley, a
direct derivation of Beaver Island.
Aurochs, which are the ancestors of present-day domestic cattle,
became extinct in Britain during the Roman period. The last auroch
died in 1627 in a Polish game preserve, but primitive races of cattle
still live in the Scottish Highlands.
The brown bear is thought to have become extinct in Britain around AD 900.
Its elimination was caused by loss of habitat ö it requires a very
large area of undisturbed woodland ö but was also related to its
highly territorial habit; brown bears return repeatedly to fruits and
berries within their home territory, making them an easy prey for hunters.
Lynx were once a native of the greater part of Britain, but died out,
or were exterminated, by Roman times. Other indigenous animals wiped
by climatic changes include the Irish elk, horse and reindeer, which
were last alive in Britain in the Middle Stone Age, and the elk, from
the Bronze Age.
Dr Valerie Keeble, chief executive of Mammals Trust UK said that the
charity advocated the controlled reintroduction of some British fauna,
such as the beaver to Scotland. However, she was concerned about the
resurgence of wild boar.
"Ultimately, we might like to see the reintroduction of wild boar
following consultations with local communities and scientific study
into viability and safety.
"But because wild boar have not been introduced in these conditions,
and have escaped in areas where they cause significant damage, we can
understand why farmers would feel the need to shoot them to protect
their livestock."
Keeble said the charity Mammals Trust UK would like to see DEFRA give
a lead in resolving the problems caused wild boar.
© The Scotsman, 21 st January 2004
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