Wild Boar population.

[Orion]

I don't think that site's much more up to date is it ?

Compared to last month's graphic from the EA?

Granted that the website is lagging a fair bit, but there's quite a bit on that old BWB sightings map that doesn't even figure on the current official one, and in the case of the region I live in as posted above, there are several thriving established populations where a several hundred square mile blank is showing.

View attachment 56265

I remember speaking with Jagare about the current boar situation in the UK compared to Southern Sweden, as he has experience of both, and IIRC he thought we were some 10 years behind and likely to reach a tipping point over the next few years where everyone will have to sit up and take notice - mainly due to increasing RTAs, crop damage etc. Given the cut-backs in funding to public bodies and the general antipathy to shooting/hunting, I'm not betting that the UK will be in a good position to deal with it when it comes.

AFAIK the last DEFRA wild boar management 'Action Plan' was back in 2008 when the total feral wild boar population in England was estimated at 500 - 1000 which must have been a gross underestimate at the time.

Interesting figures from the Risk Assessment section of the 2008 document:

" Given the amount of woodland in mainland Britain (about 27,500km2, of which 57% and 43% is coniferous and broadleaf woodland, respectively; (Forestry Commission, 2007), these figures suggest a potential future population of wild boar in Britain of around 57,000-75,000, or 30,000-41,500 in England alone."

How long before we get there?


http://britishpigs.org.uk/feralwildboar.pdf

 

[vasalord]

I have just read a piece in the "Shooting Times" that there are reckoned to be 600, maybe even 800+ in the Forest of Dean! - Who knows.

 

[Jagare]

Compared to last month's graphic from the EA?

Granted that the website is lagging a fair bit, but there's quite a bit on that old BWB sightings map that doesn't even figure on the current official one, and in the case of the region I live in as posted above, there are several thriving established populations where a several hundred square mile blank is showing.

View attachment 56265

I remember speaking with Jagare about the current boar situation in the UK compared to Southern Sweden, as he has experience of both, and IIRC he thought we were some 10 years behind and likely to reach a tipping point over the next few years where everyone will have to sit up and take notice - mainly due to increasing RTAs, crop damage etc. Given the cut-backs in funding to public bodies and the general antipathy to shooting/hunting, I'm not betting that the UK will be in a good position to deal with it when it comes.

AFAIK the last DEFRA wild boar management 'Action Plan' was back in 2008 when the total feral wild boar population in England was estimated at 500 - 1000 which must have been a gross underestimate at the time.

Interesting figures from the Risk Assessment section of the 2008 document:

" Given the amount of woodland in mainland Britain (about 27,500km2, of which 57% and 43% is coniferous and broadleaf woodland, respectively; (Forestry Commission, 2007), these figures suggest a potential future population of wild boar in Britain of around 57,000-75,000, or 30,000-41,500 in England alone."

How long before we get there?


http://britishpigs.org.uk/feralwildboar.pdf

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You can just by reading some of the boar threads on SD see how the boar population is growing. Lets face it nobody has a clue how many boar are in the UK. The thing that strikes me is plenty of people want to have a crack at boar but i dont think i have ever seen a anyone asking about boar habits, biology, etc. I get the impression that people think they are just another deer and can be managed as such.

 

[megsjockey]

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You can just by reading some of the boar threads on SD see how the boar population is growing. Lets face it nobody has a clue how many boar are in the UK. The thing that strikes me is plenty of people want to have a crack at boar but i dont think i have ever seen a anyone asking about boar habits, biology, etc. I get the impression that people think they are just another deer and can be managed as such.

I find that it's not easy to get relevant reading material on this subject in English. Even the material that has been translated, of which there is quite a bit, tends to be geared toward European game laws and traditions. The biology and ecology stuff may well transfer moderately well but the game laws, management structures and hunting techniques aren't what we're used to over here. Unless of course you can suggest a few sources of info that are UK relevant, which I'd be very happy to read. Of course, the UK situation with regard to boar is not helped by the fact that they are not yet truly recognised as a wild species here. 'Wild' and indigenous status would really start to open up the process, would it not?

 

[Tom_Ov]

This is better but still 5 years old...

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

 

[timbrayford]

'Wild' and indigenous status would really start to open up the process, would it not?

That Wild Boar are indigenous is not in doubt :- Native species (indigenous) –A species, subspecies or lower taxon, occurring within its natural range (past and present) and dispersal potential (i.e. within the range it occupies naturally or could occupy without direct or indirect introduction or care by humans) (IUCN Guidelines, 2000).

The problem is that having become locally extinct they are now an accidental reintroduction with insufficient legal protection, although it could be argued to deliberately orphan a dependent litter is cruelty under existing legislation.

atb Tim

 

[Jagare]

I find that it's not easy to get relevant reading material on this subject in English. Even the material that has been translated, of which there is quite a bit, tends to be geared toward European game laws and traditions. The biology and ecology stuff may well transfer moderately well but the game laws, management structures and hunting techniques aren't what we're used to over here. Unless of course you can suggest a few sources of info that are UK relevant, which I'd be very happy to read. Of course, the UK situation with regard to boar is not helped by the fact that they are not yet truly recognised as a wild species here. 'Wild' and indigenous status would really start to open up the process, would it not?

I'm sure in the fullness of time the Uk will have its own game laws re boar. Your right that about boar being given Wild and indigenous status is the way to go. Sweden has taken Management structures from other countries and modified to suit our land condition and hunting style. Its been a learning curve with a long way to go yet. I'm sure The UK will do the same. I see plenty of questions asked about deer habits but very little asked about boar.

 

[teyhan1]

I have often wondered if the wild boar that are out there are being mis-managed.
With new groups popping up, I do wonder if it is because when people are faced with a group of boar they are gravitating towards the big one hoping it will be a keiler. Sadly most of the time it will be a sow and the resulting loss leads to the youngsters wandering off to new grounds?
Perhaps you can enlighten us Jagare.

 

[rodp]

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You can just by reading some of the boar threads on SD see how the boar population is growing. Lets face it nobody has a clue how many boar are in the UK. The thing that strikes me is plenty of people want to have a crack at boar but i dont think i have ever seen a anyone asking about boar habits, biology, etc. I get the impression that people think they are just another deer and can be managed as such.

I know they're made of bacon and sausages, do I need to know any more ?

 

[Jagare]

I have often wondered if the wild boar that are out there are being mis-managed.
With new groups popping up, I do wonder if it is because when people are faced with a group of boar they are gravitating towards the big one hoping it will be a keiler. Sadly most of the time it will be a sow and the resulting loss leads to the youngsters wandering off to new grounds?
Perhaps you can enlighten us Jagare.

Big Keilers are very thin on the ground. If you get a group of boar the big one will most likely be a sow. Big keilers live a solitary life for the most. Very few male boar make it to maturity.
I had to smile at the resent post where a sow was shot, all be it in a fenced area. The happy hunters were looking forward to their box of pork. Why the feck would you want to eat an old sow. We know what happens to old breeding sows when their usefull life is over. pies and Sausages.
Whats the fascination with shooting big boar? A 50-70kg boar is perfect eating.

Shooting a sow with dependant young leaves the litter with no leadership in the ways of the boar world so you get a lot more damage to crops. plus young gilts then come into season = more young and often born late in the season. Shooting sows just makes problems with boar worse.

 

[Jagare]

I know they're made of bacon and sausages, do I need to know any more ?

Sausages yes. Not sure about the bacon. The boar i've been shooting just don't have that much fat on them. I like a bit of fat on my bacon. Neck of boar stuffed with prunes is good as is fillet Stuffed with a bit of Paxo.

 

[rodp]

Sausages yes. Not sure about the bacon. The boar i've been shooting just don't have that much fat on them. I like a bit of fat on my bacon. Neck of boar stuffed with prunes is good as is fillet Stuffed with a bit of Paxo.

That's all you need to know Just got to go and find some now

 

[levigsp]

So, looking at all the maps etc its plain that the relevent bodies haven't a clue where and how many feral pigs are in the UK.
I am lucky in that I travel the full extent of the UK mainland on a regular basis and I know of two populations that are not on the maps-Aberdeenshire-Suffolk and I have seen roving males in other places.
It will be interesting to see how it all pans out, especially if people look after them and dont just treat them like walking targets.

 

[Boarboy]

Well about 20 years ago, after the great storm and the populations had established in East Sussex and Kent, I thought not long now till they'll be over this way into West Sussex. It hasn't happened to any great level that im aware of and the populations have remained in those initial areas. I can only think that for one boar are staying in the larger blocks of forestry where they have everything they need or hunting pressure has stopped them spreading..? I think there are some resident experienced managers doing a good job on the areas they cover but unfortunately they have no control outside these areas, poaching, random pot shots at boar e.t.c. Which actually does more harm as the matriarchal groups are disturbed. I guess we are "new" to boar on this country and as such aren't as good as managing them as our friends in Europe. No close seasons or protection won't help that either.

 

[paul k]

I have just read a piece in the "Shooting Times" that there are reckoned to be 600, maybe even 800+ in the Forest of Dean! - Who knows.

If you include the "greater" Forest of Dean, including over the Wye into Monmouthshire, that estimate may not be far off, the only thing that may impact is that the FC are culling fairly aggressively.

 

[Jagare]

Well about 20 years ago, after the great storm and the populations had established in East Sussex and Kent, I thought not long now till they'll be over this way into West Sussex. It hasn't happened to any great level that im aware of and the populations have remained in those initial areas. I can only think that for one boar are staying in the larger blocks of forestry where they have everything they need or hunting pressure has stopped them spreading..? I think there are some resident experienced managers doing a good job on the areas they cover but unfortunately they have no control outside these areas, poaching, random pot shots at boar e.t.c. Which actually does more harm as the matriarchal groups are disturbed. I guess we are "new" to boar on this country and as such aren't as good as managing them as our friends in Europe. No close seasons or protection won't help that either.

They are into West Sussex nearly to the Hampshire border. I was born in Sussex and lived and stalked for a large part of my life there so i know good old sussex by the sea quite well. Plus I have spys on the ground there who keep me informed
When boar reappeared in Sweden the were to be wiped out. After a few years they were put on the quarry list as big game with a closed season. The closed season do's not apply to yearling boar. The shooting methods and management of Swedish boar have develloped and changed as the population has grown. The increase and rapid spread of wild boar is in part caused by massive over feeding of boar by hunters. A thing i have noticed with the over feeding of boar is the shift in the balance of nature for other species as well.

 

[Boarboy]

I agree they are in parts of West Sussex, Just not at the levels that people had predicted some 20 years ago in an "established" form.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Wild Boar are native to the UK despite being absent for hundreds of years, the feral hogs in Texas are non-natives. Surely the UK's Boar and the environment would both benefit from a properly conceived management plan and appropriate close seasons rather than some random attempt at eradication by the public authorities.

Being native or non-native really does not matter from a crop damage standpoint. Wild boar were extirpated from the UK for hundreds of years as you note and folks have gotten used to not having their gardens plowed unreasonably by boar over that time. Without proper management and because of the lack of natural predators in the UK (also extirpated/extinct in that range), hog certainly may find it fairly easy for their populations to grow unchecked, except for humans, like in Texas.

 

[teyhan1]

Being native or non-native really does not matter from a crop damage standpoint. Wild boar were extirpated from the UK for hundreds of years as you note and folks have gotten used to not having their gardens plowed unreasonably by boar over that time. Without proper management and because of the lack of natural predators in the UK (also extirpated/extinct in that range), hog certainly may find it fairly easy for their populations to grow unchecked, except for humans, like in Texas.

I think that you may be forgetting that Texas is 3x the size of the UK with a little over a 1/3 of the population.
If you had 3x less areas to hunt (excluding your state hunting areas) and maybe 3x more people wanting that hunting area then it is not difficult to see why the boar advancement is not as rapid as it may have been.
They may well re-populate the UK but it will not be quick.

 

[mudman]

Hunting pressure is holding the spread of wild boar back, and its is certainly holding back significant population growth in most areas.