Wild Boar Cull in Forest of Dean

scout556

Member
The Forestry Commission is due to carry out what is expected to be its biggest cull of wild boar in the Forest of Dean later this year.

The population has grown dramatically over the past decade, along with the number of complaints about the damage they do.

Does anyone know how we would be allowed to join the cull?
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Anybody from the Forestry Commision here??
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We ain't got a snowballs chance in hell, if they don't do it themselves they'll get a contractor in & spend shitloads of money on it instead of leasing it out & making a shitload of money, totally logical isn't it?
 
I've posted elsewhere on here that if the Frosty Commission get the slightest whiff of moola, then it'll be stitched up tight and no-one but high-rollers will be able to get in

I fancy using the exemption under the Hunting Act 2004 where you can use a couple of Hounds to flush to a gun (or as many Hounds as you like to flush to a bird of prey...now THAT would be exciting)
 
If I'm not mistaken all/any Free Forester has the right to hunt in the Forrest and take 1 tree any tree each year so find 1 that will take you out and say he/she shot it, lol.
 
well, join in no chance.... stalk the rangers though and see how they're doing it. Cages I bet!

Bit of a coincidence. I was speaking to someone from the Forest of Dean on Monday about the proposed cull. Now I can't substanciate anything said, but he did inform me that the FC have been using very large cage traps to catch sows with piglets. He went on to say that the Boars' are very hard to trap, so are being shot.

I would like to know how they are destroying the animals once trapped as it was suggested that the trapped animals were being removed alive and transported elsewhere. Also what they are going to do with the carcases, if they are going into the food chain are they being tested for trichinella first?
 
Bit of a coincidence. I was speaking to someone from the Forest of Dean on Monday about the proposed cull. Now I can't substanciate anything said, but he did inform me that the FC have been using very large cage traps to catch sows with piglets. He went on to say that the Boars' are very hard to trap, so are being shot.

I would like to know how they are destroying the animals once trapped as it was suggested that the trapped animals were being removed alive and transported elsewhere. Also what they are going to do with the carcases, if they are going into the food chain are they being tested for trichinella first?
I fear there is a bit of misinformation being supplied to you here 270wsm. Yes, FC do use large cage traps and this has, I believe, proven far more successful than shooting. They only carry out control of any sort Sept to Dec to try and avoid culling animals with dependant young and I also believe that they modified the design of the cage trap a couple of years ago to try and prevent injury to any piglets trapped with a sow. It is quite possible to still capture sows with dependant young during their "open" season and I hope if they do so that all animals are released but i cannot confirm this and still fear injury to piglets and issues with estranged young. Suitable animals trapped are shot (pistol) and no doubt end up in the food chain just like the large volumes of deer the FC cull each year. FC have been, by far, the largest user of the AHVLA trichinella testing service in recent years so one must assume that all animals culled are tested.

The Forest of Dean has full open public access and is heavily used as such. FC will be very concerned about health and safety as well as PR and I really cannot see a day any time soon when private stalkers will get access as FC have 4 full time rangers who culled 150+ in 2011 and 100+ last year. I am no apologist for FC and have some concerns of my own over this but profit will not be the motive in this instance as I am sure it actually costs them money to do it!

100 * £100 average carcass value = £10,000 and 4 rangers, kit and vehicles will be a lot more than this!

Lets hope they don't hit em too hard.
 
I fear there is a bit of misinformation being supplied to you here 270wsm. Yes, FC do use large cage traps and this has, I believe, proven far more successful than shooting. They only carry out control of any sort Sept to Dec to try and avoid culling animals with dependant young and I also believe that they modified the design of the cage trap a couple of years ago to try and prevent injury to any piglets trapped with a sow. It is quite possible to still capture sows with dependant young during their "open" season and I hope if they do so that all animals are released but i cannot confirm this and still fear injury to piglets and issues with estranged young. Suitable animals trapped are shot (pistol) and no doubt end up in the food chain just like the large volumes of deer the FC cull each year. FC have been, by far, the largest user of the AHVLA trichinella testing service in recent years so one must assume that all animals culled are tested.

The Forest of Dean has full open public access and is heavily used as such. FC will be very concerned about health and safety as well as PR and I really cannot see a day any time soon when private stalkers will get access as FC have 4 full time rangers who culled 150+ in 2011 and 100+ last year. I am no apologist for FC and have some concerns of my own over this but profit will not be the motive in this instance as I am sure it actually costs them money to do it!

100 * £100 average carcass value = £10,000 and 4 rangers, kit and vehicles will be a lot more than this!

Lets hope they don't hit em too hard.
I'm sure that if the FC have taken the time and expense to capture any wild bore, they aren't going to release them in another area to cause them problems again. Be it male, female or young they'll all be culled.
 
Gaz, I think you may be wrong. I believe that sows with dependant young caught in traps are released, every thing else gets a bullet. As i have said, control takes place at a time of year when less dependant young about. I am not aware of any relocations. This is a very hot potato locally and FC very keen to strike the balance between control and acting ethically. The PR fall out from trying to round up piglets from a trapped sow in an area with lots of public access is probably not something any agency wants to get caught up in.
 
I think your looking at it with Rose tinted glasses M8 the FC aren't at all interested in the ethical methods it just job done thats why their contractors are paid the same for a fawn, or a buck & they keep getting licences for deer to be shot on the lamp supposidly for control purposes when they cull they cull everything indiscriminately.

Gaz, I think you may be wrong. I believe that sows with dependant young caught in traps are released, every thing else gets a bullet. As i have said, control takes place at a time of year when less dependant young about. I am not aware of any relocations. This is a very hot potato locally and FC very keen to strike the balance between control and acting ethically. The PR fall out from trying to round up piglets from a trapped sow in an area with lots of public access is probably not something any agency wants to get caught up in.
 
I think your looking at it with Rose tinted glasses M8 the FC aren't at all interested in the ethical methods it just job done thats why their contractors are paid the same for a fawn, or a buck & they keep getting licences for deer to be shot on the lamp supposidly for control purposes when they cull they cull everything indiscriminately.
i hear you M8 but have checked my specs and they might need a clean but are not rose tinted. As said before, I am not an apologist for FC and have issues with the practices you mention but in this instance do have the advantage of knowing one of the rangers! My information is, therefore, fairly reliable!
 
I think your looking at it with Rose tinted glasses M8 the FC aren't at all interested in the ethical methods it just job done thats why their contractors are paid the same for a fawn, or a buck & they keep getting licences for deer to be shot on the lamp supposidly for control purposes when they cull they cull everything indiscriminately.

Interesting. How many night licenses have been granted to FC England then?
 
Gaz, I think you may be wrong. I believe that sows with dependant young caught in traps are released, every thing else gets a bullet. As i have said, control takes place at a time of year when less dependant young about. I am not aware of any relocations. This is a very hot potato locally and FC very keen to strike the balance between control and acting ethically. The PR fall out from trying to round up piglets from a trapped sow in an area with lots of public access is probably not something any agency wants to get caught up in.
There are definitely relocations from the FOD boar population, although I'm not sure if there FC caught, but have seen them first hand.
 
The FC officially culled 195 boar from the Forest of Dean in the year to 31st March. They estimate the population as a minimum of 535, not including juvenile recruitment.
 
[h=1]Verderers of theForest of Dean[/h]
[h=2]Feral Wild Boar in the Forest of Dean[/h][h=3]Status of boar[/h]Boar were once common in the Forest of Dean and were hunted for food. In medieval times, boar from the Royal Forest were supplied for the King's table - there is a record of an order for 100 boars and sows for a Christmas feast in 1254. Boar are thought to have become extinct in Britain not long after this time.
The farming of wild boar in Britain became fashionable in the 1970's and boar originating from the European mainland were kept under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 that was intended to ensure their secure confinement.
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Wild Boar in the Forest​
Boar became feral in the area after some escaped or were released from a farm near Ross on Wye in 1999. In Autumn 2004 a group of about sixty farm-raised boar were dumped near Staunton. Some turned up in the main block of the Dean in Spring 2006, probably individuals deliberately moved from the Staunton population. A sizeable population has now developed in the Forest with a number of family groups or sounders holding Inclosure sized territories spread across the Statutory Forest together with several lone wandering boars. There is strong evidence that the Hereford population is now merging with the Dean population.
Boar are now interacting with people on a regular basis throughout the Forest and some dogs have been injured or killed although there have been no injuries to people other than to a man trying to feed a large boar by hand while a child hit it with a stick. A significant and obvious issue with the boar population is damage to amenity grassland, verges and gardens in both FC and private ownership. There is also an issue with the damage to fences allowing access and associated damage to tree crops by boar, deer and rabbits. Numbers of road casualty boar have increased (10 in 08/09). Without control, there is the potential for boar to have an adverse effect on flora (e.g. the bluebell carpets) and fauna (potentially including European Protected Species such as dormice or the ground nesting birds such as wood warbler which are so important in the Nagshead SSSI). Control of individual problem animals has been undertaken, and the Dean population has become increasingly nocturnal and more shy of people although they are still regularly seen by forest users.
[h=3]Management of boar[/h]DEFRA undertook public consultation in 2006 and in February 2008 published an Action Plan for boar management which concluded that the Government would support local communities in the management of feral wild boar populations where they live based on the local situation. The Forest of Dean District Council set up a task group to investigate the issue which reported to the Council?s Community Scrutiny and Review Committee in June 2009. Following a widespread consultation amongst the community, the Council recommended to the Verderers that the number of boar should be controlled to a level lower than existed at that time, particularly to a level which would not cause damage or harm to the Forest and visitors to the Forest. The Committee recommended that the FC should manage the boar on its land so that boar should be encouraged to remain in the wooded areas of the Forest. The Verderers endorsed the principle of management, but considered that this might result in continuing problems and that even further reduction in the population might be required in the future.
The Forestry Commission's strategy for management has as its primary aim the maintenance of the forest environment and the health and safety of its residents and visitors. It provides guidance which requires that all control will be undertaken using humane methods, in accordance with Forestry Commission standards.
[h=3]Management Strategy[/h]In the absence of any reliable method for determining the population in the Forest of Dean, and thus an appropriate cull level, the interim aim should be to control the population to below the current level and aim for the sustainable population level suggested by the Dutch model. This equates to approximately 90 animals (there were estimated to be significantly more than this present in July 2009). Experience to date suggests there will be practical difficulties in significantly reducing the population of boar given their high potential for population growth. Particular focus will be placed on animals close to areas of settlement or those known to be a particular problem. The experience gained will allow the practicalities of reducing the population even further to be evaluated, and will indicate whether retaining a sustainable population is a viable objective, or whether attempts should be made to remove the boar altogether.
In managing the boar, District staff practise exemplary management of the animals, with emphasis on staff and public safety and animal welfare. Where appropriate and practical, the activity involves the production of saleable carcasses and FC staff work in collaboration with others to facilitate the management of boar on a landscape scale.
Given the legal right of public access accorded under the CROW Act and the very high level of public access there are no plans to let boar shooting rights nor to have day permit stalking by private individuals in the Forest of Dean.
[h=3]Research[/h]Future successful management of the boar will depend upon research clarifying many of the currently poorly understood or unknown issues. Both the Government's Food and Environment Research Agency and FC Forest Research are actively engaged in boar research and the Forestry Commission in the Forest of Dean will assist as far as practicable.
The priorities for research are:

  • Develop methods to calculate and monitor population density and range expansion
  • Evaluate the feasibility and costs of more effective fencing options
  • Determine ways to improve the efficiency of boar removal techniques
  • Determine the impacts of boar on plant biodiversity
  • Determine the impacts of boar on animal biodiversity - e.g. dormice, ground nesting birds
  • Explore practical methods for fertility control in wild populations


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Contractors don't always get paid by the carcass. Some get day rates in the welsh commission/NRW. No night shooting licences as far as i am aware have ever been granted in England or Wales to the FC. The reason there is a healthy population of roe and reds spreading into wales through Chepstow/Trellech is because they have not been shot on sight by the FC in fact quite the opposit. In fact if some ofthe idiots who shot around the FC woods were as selective as the FC boys we would have a lot more showing.I am talking about the nob who has not long ago was caught shooting reds on the lamp out of season with an illegal calibre.The boar have to be controlled in the Forest of dean and like it or not Joe blogs will never be able to stalk/help with the boar cull. Some one has to do it they are lucky enough to be able to do it. All be it by methods not chosen by themselves.I am not pro fc or anything but a lot of people seem to think all the rangers are tossers and they can do the job better.
Regards Sean
I think your looking at it with Rose tinted glasses M8 the FC aren't at all interested in the ethical methods it just job done thats why their contractors are paid the same for a fawn, or a buck & they keep getting licences for deer to be shot on the lamp supposidly for control purposes when they cull they cull everything indiscriminately.
 
A recent survey of the boar in the Dean put them at more than 800. Apparently the forest can only handle 400 so 400 have to be culled.

Problem is the animal activists who tried to interfere with the badger cull have now said they will stop the rangers from any culling and move bait stations etc using lawful direct action.
 
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