Over culled?

[mudman]

Interesting article on wild boar, principally conceding the Forest of Dean, not anti shooting. Is the author correct in saying the Dorset and Devon populations have been eliminated/ shot out?

'They just fit': Has the wild boar been over-culled?

Naturalists fear that boar are declining in the Forest of Dean. The controversial question, however, is how many should be there in the first place.

www.inkcapjournal.co.uk

 

[Night òwl]

There has been a huge reduction in wild boar numbers in the dean over the last 12/18mths and the culling continues.
My personal opinion is they are well on target to reduce the population to 400 as they have strived for over the last few years.
We monitor boar numbers regularly and the reduction is significant

 

[User00040]

No such thing as 'wild boar' in the UK anyway, as they went extict.

These are either the offspring of escaped boar or (more likely) feral pigs.

For the amount of destruction they cause, it is selfish for people who want then kept to 'sell shooting'... unless they are in caged enclosures or properly fenced in, but where is the fun in that for the people from 'Landan' who want some blood sport?!

Get them all shot

 

[Night òwl]

No such thing as 'wild boar' in the UK anyway, as they went extict.

These are either the offspring of escaped boar or (more likely) feral pigs.

For the amount of destruction they cause, it is selfish for people who want then kept to 'sell shooting'... unless they are in caged enclosures or properly fenced in, but where is the fun in that for the people from 'Landan' who want some blood sport?!

Get them all shot

Just goes to show how little is known about the forest of dean and its pig population, habits and management by people who do not live in the area

 

[sikamalc]

No such thing as 'wild boar' in the UK anyway, as they went extict.

These are either the offspring of escaped boar or (more likely) feral pigs.

For the amount of destruction they cause, it is selfish for people who want then kept to 'sell shooting'... unless they are in caged enclosures or properly fenced in, but where is the fun in that for the people from 'Landan' who want some blood sport?!

Get them all shot

Some may be crossed with ferals. However the Boar population that were on the Kent/Sussex border were all Polish Wild Boar that escaped during the hurricane that hit the SE in 1987. They escaped from a farm owned by the tetra pack people, who at time also owned Wadhurst Park. They still do I believe, but this is now being rewild.

Most made their way to Beckley wood in Kent, they have been overshot in this area, and poached a lot over the years. Some are still about, but nothing in the numbers they once were.

 

[IBD]

Dorset has no wild boar left I think. Not heard of one being shot for a decade at least . One shoot called Mapperton used to have plenty but they got shot by the keepers and locals and now it’s stopped and gone to a re wild project it wohkd make good habitat for them as I think no culling can take place on re wild projects

 

[VSS]

I think no culling can take place on re wild projects

Why not? The Knepp estate sells plenty of venison, so clearly their rewild project includes sustainable culling.

 

[slider]

Dorset has no wild boar left I think. Not heard of one being shot for a decade at least . One shoot called Mapperton used to have plenty but they got shot by the keepers and locals and now it’s stopped and gone to a re wild project it wohkd make good habitat for them as I think no culling can take place on re wild projects

Culling has to take place, rewinding or not otherwise deer and boar will become dominant to the detriment of every thing else?

They tried a "no cull' approach in oostvanderplassen in the Netherlands and ended up with a major animal cruelty problem as population out grew the food sources and starved.

 

[JamesH]

Why not? The Knepp estate sells plenty of venison, so clearly their rewild project includes sustainable culling.

All well designed rewilding projects include use of large mammals for habitat management and then culling / population management of the herds and meat production. They just don’t always advertise it widely in case it puts off sponsors or supporters (much like RSPB and wildlife trusts managing deer).

 

[VSS]

All well designed rewilding projects include use of large mammals for habitat management and then culling / population management of the herds and meat production. They just don’t always advertise it widely in case it puts off sponsors or supporters (much like RSPB and wildlife trusts managing deer).

That's what I thought

 

[25 Sharps]

Culling has to take place, rewinding or not otherwise deer and boar will become dominant to the detriment of every thing else?

They tried a "no cull' approach in oostvanderplassen in the Netherlands and ended up with a major animal cruelty problem as population out grew the food sources and starved.

But that is what happens in the wild. If there are no predators then disease or starvation keeps populations in check.

If it is being managed it isn’t wild.

 

[NullMac]

I think no culling can take place on re wild projects

I thought they battered all fauna that could eat trees ??

 

[NullMac]

All well designed rewilding projects include use of large mammals for habitat management and then culling / population management of the herds and meat production. They just don’t always advertise it widely in case it puts off sponsors or supporters (much like RSPB and wildlife trusts managing deer).

ie it isn't rewilding it is just an another management plan.

 

[VSS]

But that is what happens in the wild. If there are no predators then disease or starvation keeps populations in check.

If it is being managed it isn’t wild.

Hunters are as much part of a balanced ecosystem as the species that they hunt, so there's definitely a place for it in rewilding.

 

[slider]

But that is what happens in the wild. If there are no predators then disease or starvation keeps populations in check.

If it is being managed it isn’t wild.

But oostvanderplassen was a false "wild", animals, particularly wild ponies, were allowed to breed in an enclosed environment, no predators to manage the population and no ability to expand the available food source equals starvation at the hands of man's experiment

 

[25 Sharps]

Hunters are as much part of a balanced ecosystem as the species that they hunt, so there's definitely a place for it in rewilding.

Though I agree with your sentiment, subsistence hunting being part of natural ecosystems, management hunting with modern weapons to specific management objectives is not part of a balanced ecosystem - if it was balanced then ‘management’ wouldn’t be necessary.

 

[slider]

Though I agree with your sentiment, subsistence hunting being part of natural ecosystems, management hunting with modern weapons to specific management objectives is not part of a balanced ecosystem - if it was balanced then ‘management’ wouldn’t be necessary.

But it can't be balanced without the introduction of apex predators, which are totally incompatible with a high population density. There man has evolved to become the apex predator. Man is part of the ecosystem and creates the balance

 

[25 Sharps]

But oostvanderplassen was a false "wild", animals, particularly wild ponies, were allowed to breed in an enclosed environment, no predators to manage the population and no ability to expand the available food source equals starvation at the hands of man's experiment

All ‘re-wilding’ is a false wild, it is not an ecosystem that has been arrived at by succession and evolution; it has been manipulated from what it would likely be if natural succession was allowed to take place at its own pace.

But the point still stands, nature’s 2 main controls on populations in the absence of predators are disease and starvation.

 

[25 Sharps]

But it can't be balanced without the introduction of apex predators, which are totally incompatible with a high population density. There man has evolved to become the apex predator. Man is part of the ecosystem and creates the balance

Yes, in a subsistence setting he is part of the wild ecosystem.

If he is culling animals with management objectives in mind it is a ‘managed’ ecosystem not a ‘wild’ ecosystem.

As you point out introduction of appropriate apex predators is the only way to achieve a naturally balanced ecosystem, this won’t work in the UK so no areas will ever be properly rewilded. Unless of course massive areas are fenced and humans including their interests are excluded.

 

[slider]

All ‘re-wilding’ is a false wild, it is not an ecosystem that has been arrived at by succession and evolution; it has been manipulated from what it would likely be if natural succession was allowed to take place at its own pace.

But the point still stands, nature’s 2 main controls on populations in the absence of predators are disease and starvation.

Points taken an agreed. Actually the act of ,"re"wilding is such a false term, it's actually just gardening on a different scale