Cull in Forest of Dean

jack

Well-Known Member
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/8439997.stm

Wild boar in the Forest of Dean are to be culled amid concerns that the creatures have been damaging ancient woodland.

Forestry Commission rangers estimate that there are as many as 150 animals in the area.

The Commission, along with the Forest's district council and the Verderers' Court, have agreed to a cull to reduce the total to 100.

In January 2008, an aggressive boar had to be shot at Ruardean Primary School.

Boars also damaged a football pitch at Ruspidge last year while a number of gardeners have complained of damage.

Specially trained marksmen will carry out the cull, but feeding sows will be spared.

Boars have roamed wild in the the Forest since 2004, when they reintroduced after a 700-year absence.
 
Some of this info is slightly wrong, the cull is already underway, and there have been boar in the Forest since 1997 when the original escape took place near Weston under Penyard on the NW edge. The boar liberated in 2004 were released into the Highmeadow Woods on the SW edge of the forest, not far from Staunton.

There has been a Freedom of Information response from the FC which shows that up to October 2009 they had shot 50 boar in the Forest of Dean but as 19 of these were shot in October they may be cranking things up a bit. The details of the animals shot show that only 10 were matriarchal sows which is actually quite a low cull of the key animals.

The estimate of 150 boar in the Forest is probably a significant underestimate and the animals have long since expanded out of the main forest and are now down the Wye Valley on both sides of the river to at least Tintern.

Anecdotal evidence says that the Ruardean boar only became aggressive when the FC ranger approached it to shoot it.
 
paul at barony said:
Paul


Do they have a policy of shoot it if you see it because culling dominent sows is bad practice surely. cheers

No, on the face of it it would seem that it is quite structured and efforts are made not to take out too many dominant sows. The policy seems to be to concentrate on shooting yearling boars and non-breeding sows.
 
boar were found in brechfa forest in carmarthenshire three years ago but a local farmer fed them and captured them for a big barbie - they were only young when sited
 
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