Forest of Dean Cull

paul k

Well-Known Member
I heard today that they have unsurprisingly decided to cull the boar in the Forest of Dean. They do not appear to be going for total eradication (virtually impossible now anyway) and the cull will be of immature animals so that the matriarchal social structure is not damaged.

It could be that any concerted culling pressure may just serve to spread them wider and more quickly than they already are.

They also think that, having acknowledged the matriarchal society, the young boar are going to be lured away from the family groups to the "killing grounds" by food bait instead of following the matriarch which is presumably what a matriarchal society is all about - sounds like b*llsh*t to me!

It is interesting that official estimates of numbers in Dean have increased from "50 or 60" to "more than 100." This is still ludicrously low but if it is true that only some immature animals are going to be culled, then boar population demographics suggest that the cull should only amount to maybe 20 animals - fat chance!!!
 
I think its more to do with public liability myself, some fat townie rambler might walk into a sow and have a heart attack! :eek: :lol:

'Four legs good, two legs baaaaaaad'!
 
Saw the local paper headlines this week "All baby boar to be killed" when I passed through the forest.

All very dramatic, but the reasoning behind it is unclear.

Some parts of the forest have resident boar on the streets being treated as pets by the locals :eek:
 
i did read somewhere they were looking to cull a 100+
just can't lay my hands on the article at present
 
I think that there is some confusion here as well as some misinformation from the powers that be.

The local paper and BBC both reported that the cull was deemed necessary because boar have attacked and killed several dogs and chased people on horseback. They also cite the "aggressive" boar that had to be shot in a school playground. It's not surprising that this boar may have looked aggressive but apparently it only became aggressive when the marksman approached it - big surprise!!

Shooting the immature boar will have little effect on this behaviour but I don't think this type of report is good for the tourist trade.

Stone, the new estimate of boar numbers in the forest is "more than 100" I think that this is where your figure came from, not that they are going to cull 100, in fact no figure for the cull has been given and there is no suggestion that they are going to try and cull all the immature boar.
 
There is nothing like good journalism, and that is nothing like it! I’m opposed to having the boar culled in such large numbers; but those articles must have been written by an hysterical drama queen. Bloody press.
 
This all comes under the Governments new legislation selection policy. It is run by the PIP, which has been running for quite a few years and is supported by a large number of the public. The PIP, did I say? It stands for Pricks In Press. Well they run a scaremonger type story, which they have invented or one they have blown out of all proportion, and this in turn is seized upon by every loony out there, gets more press attention and becomes Government policy by public demand.

So that's how it works, the PIP get supported by every tree hugging, know nothing bath dodger out there, and it is all done in the name of this cotton wool society we live in. Democracy at Work, my arse!

John
 
We have plenty of boar here in Sweden. No children killed or injured. Never heard of people on horses chased by boar. Will they dig up your lawn? bloody right they will. Will culling a few young bring them under control? In your dreams. Will they injure your dog? If the dog is stupid enough to mess with the boar Too right. Even experienced Boar dogs get badley injured.
Have you hunters in England got a worthy game animal on the way. An animal that will need a different hunting approach than deer. OH yes you have. You lucky stalkers :D .
 
Very interesting reading this thread from 9 years ago where the Forest of Dean Boar numbered more than a hundred! How many are there now, several thousand?
 
That country file piece I just watched on iPlayer said there estimate is 1500 and culled 500 last year ....I'm guessing no numbers for privately taken from locals and sporting agents etc ?

Paul
 
That country file piece I just watched on iPlayer said there estimate is 1500 and culled 500 last year ....I'm guessing no numbers for privately taken from locals and sporting agents etc ?

Paul

Did Country file mention that the target was 900 boar and that extra rangers were employed, but they only managed to get 48% of the target?:rolleyes:


Admittedly this is second hand information, so could be questioned, but they can reproduce rapidly. All the sows we have shot recently have been carrying 8 -10 well developed young.
 
All the head FC boy for area who was on the programme said was that dealing with it wasn't simply shooting more of them as they were doing so at "capacity"

Paul
 
Perhaps access to the Boar shooting on the publicly owned areas could be opened up to suitably qualified members of the public, following a properly conceived management plan....if there is one?
 
Perhaps access to the Boar shooting on the publicly owned areas could be opened up to suitably qualified members of the public, following a properly conceived management plan....if there is one?
Thats a good idea, my name would be on that list.
I thought the area was peppered with covert trail cameras specifically for boar counting, how is that going??
 
I've only picked up what in press & on here but at a guess sounds like lots of different parties with their own views & agendas and nobody talking to each other ?

Paul
 
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