Forest of Dean boar “need culling”

The numbers of wild boar in the Forest of Dean are doubling every year, according to the Forestry Commission’s (FC) latest surveys. A recent estimate shows there to be approximately 600 wild boar in the area, and they are causing considerable damage in search of food. The FC is putting up a 4ft barrier around the Beechenhurst Lodge picnic area after it was churned up by the animals. The fence will be 2,000m long and barbed to prevent the boar from burrowing under it.

According to the FC, the severe winter and the lack of nuts made the problem of damage from wild boar in the area worse.

Shooting Times spoke to Kevin Stannard, deputy surveyor for the FC, who explained that the local community was split in its opinion on whether the wild boar should be culled: “Half complains of the damage caused — particularly to local grasslands, such as football pitches, parks, commons and front gardens — however, an equal part believes that the wild boar should not be culled and that we should learn to live with them, and accept that as part of living in such a beautiful area.”

The rest of this article appears in the 17th April issue of Shooting Times.

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