Wild Boar

Escapees from farms and collections plus the reckless behaviour of some animal rigths activists has seen Wild Boar Sus scrofa now re-establish themselves in the British countryside.

The Boars are larger than the Sows, a big male weighing upto 200 kgs and standing over a metre tall at the shoulder. Big males have tusks which are overly large canine teeth. Boar should be considered dangerous however there is usually a circumstance which has provoked an aggressive response as they are generally quite passive animals.

Sows produce upto eight piglets per year, with no natural predators except the odd ambitious fox numbers of wild boar are set to increase. The main threats to Boar are traffic accidents, hunters and farmers. Boar are capable of delivering serious damage to crops, so as numbers increase so will confrontations between Boar and upset farmers.

In East Anglia there are reports of sightings around Dereham in Norfolk, there is a lone animal on Mersea Island, Essex and Natural England confirms two animals were killed in Suffolk in 2009.