British Boar Organisation?

liamnjs

Well-Known Member
I have been talking with my mentor about the history of the BDS, and I was wondering if there is anything similar on the horizon regarding wild boar? We all know the legislative picture is hazy at best, and it is actually very difficult to empirically assess current spread and impact, but if anything this is all the more reason for an organisation to coordinate research, information gathering and promote best practice in culling and management.
 
Just my opinion, but until DEFRA decide how wild boar are to be treated in the UK - a wildlife success, sporting resource, unwanted re-introduction or dangerous infection source for the farmed national pig stock - there is unlikely to be any legislation forthcoming in the near future. I certainly feel that there is a need for some form of close season at the very least.

Whether there is enough interest for a 'BWBS' to get off the ground is, at present I think, debatable unless a few individuals grasp the nettle and get it underway. But until something is formulated you'll have a hotchpotch of organisations providing advice about WB. This is one of the better ones:

http://www.britishwildboar.org.uk/
 
I am back in the UK for the next 2 years and will be happy to help with knowledge base / practical explaining / lecturing as I have some classroom experience OK only with tiddlers but it all helps.
Anyone else up for it. Could be a rod for our backs but someone must break the first soil.
Martin
 
Welfare of Boar?

I have a fair amount of experience in the organisation of the BDS, which is of course a charity, with all the complex legal issues that a charity has to deal with. It might be rather complex and expensive to go that route for boar at the moment. Some sort of loose information exchange is probably the best we could do, maybe starting by studying European Practice. It is absolutely right to point out as above that until the law has ceased to be silent on Wild Boar, there may be not much we could do. However, if it gets up the agenda of DEFRA and the others, we might need some sort of organisation to nudge the legislation into a practical format ....
 
If there was a course like DSC1 for Boar like 'Wild Boar Management Certificate Level 1' would you do it?? You never know what might be around the corner...
 
If there was a course like DSC1 for Boar like 'Wild Boar Management Certificate Level 1' would you do it?? You never know what might be around the corner...

Well the DI appear to be already jostling to get their feet under the wild boar table by hosting the WB 'Best Practice Guides'. :D Did they have a hand in producing them?

http://www.wild-boar.org.uk/

If they are getting involved then it might well happen that your thoughts are justified.

What I find disappointing is that instead of looking and learning from what the continentals are doing with regard to, for example, the sporting aspects of WB and applying some original thinking, we seem to be going down the usual UK path of blindly accepting whatever has been arbitarily decided in the past. An example is the reference to .270 being the minimum acceptable calibre - possibly because it just happened to be the FC 'issue' at the time DEFRA started looking into WB (?) - whereas IIRC most other countries where a minimum calibre is stated allow 6.5mm, which means a hunter can use his deer rifle, (with the 6.5x57 or 7x64 being available for use where military calibres have been restricted). Then there is the lack of a close season - why not? IMHO far better to actually put one in place, or at least make an advisory on it, rather than rely on the, 'As far as is practicable the shooting of female boar known or suspected to have dependant young should be avoided', as per the BPG.

Perhaps DEFRA/Natural England feel the need to spend more money on research before the wheels grind forward a bit more? :D
 
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Well my impression is that DEFRA hope wild boar will go away quietly, if they had their way then wild boar would be eliminated from the British countryside but they know the public would not stand for such an all out cull. Instead they hope that by not imposing a close season that 'shooters' will do the job for them and if not wipe out the boar then severely limit their numbers/spread. The fate of the wild boar is our own hands.
 
Well my impression is that DEFRA hope wild boar will go away quietly, if they had their way then wild boar would be eliminated from the British countryside but they know the public would not stand for such an all out cull. Instead they hope that by not imposing a close season that 'shooters' will do the job for them and if not wipe out the boar then severely limit their numbers/spread. The fate of the wild boar is our own hands.

This is very much the impression I have too, and is one of the reasons I asked the question. I think a shooter-led body, pooling practical management knowledge, making overtures to legislative and research focussed organisations would be a very positive development. An organisation pushing for self-regulation and suggesting common sense management and best practice based on European experiences, rather than arbitary and nonsensical recommendations we have at the moment, would actually be quite timely. I am surprised the chap behind the Wild Boar Organsation website hasn't pushed this further.
 
There's More to wild boar managment than just shooting them. You've only got to look at Dr Gouldings wild Boar site to realise that. Dr goulding must be one of the few really
Knowledgeable people on wild boar in the UK.
You can look at Europes ways of managing wild boar and pick up some good tips. The UK will need to work out its own model to get to grips with the coming boar problems. The UK is not like Germany, Sweden, France or any other European country.

Sweden has had boar since the mid 70's. The Swedish hunting fraternity has made many mistakes over the years but now there is a lot of joined up thinking on how to tackle the Boar problem. We hav'nt got it 100% right yet but we have learned there is more to controlling boar than just shooting them.
 
Hi,
I am now based for the forseeable future in Coventry so if anyone wants to do a startup meetup to kick things off I will be able to add my ten pence worth.
Martin
 
There is a British Wild Boar Organisation
Have a look at
Wild Boar in Britain

No sorry mate, that's Dr Goulding's Wild Boar website - check out post #2 - it's not a 'wild boar organisation' in the same way that the BDS is for deer, more of a source of information on wild boar in Britain, (and a very good one at that :thumb:).

BTW. you might want to check out the forum rules and post an introduction in the relevant section. ;)
 
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Hi,
I am now based for the forseeable future in Coventry so if anyone wants to do a startup meetup to kick things off I will be able to add my ten pence worth.
Martin

I think that a shooter-led British Wild Boar Society must be the way to go and whilst I can't add anything to a Boar knowledge database I do have 35 years admin / Company formation / Government waffle circumvention experience I would happily chuck in if required?

I'm an hour from Coventry so not too onerous a journey?

Any thoughts & ideas on how to progress this?
 
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