This page has been added because the increasing British wild boar population is resulting in more and more confrontations (either pleasant or unpleasant) between wild boar and members of the public.
On the continent, people live quite happily with wild boar and incidents of wild boar attacking people are very, very, rare. However, like all animals (whether wild, domestic or farmed), there is always an element of unpredictability. The two examples below, taken from emails received to the website from instances in the Forest of Dean, highlight both sides of the coin.
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The group did have piglets, although at the time I was merely walking along a grass ride with bracken either side. Suddenly from a long way away,a large boar came out and made it obvious he was going to attack. He thundered! towards me and although in hindsight one could say hold your ground and face him (Yeah right!) my immediate reaction was to run away fast! I just made it inside my 5 bar gate about 50 yards further on !Phew! I have been photographing wild boar here for years (www.mkwphotographics.co.uk) and in the years of photographing these creatures I have never encountered this behaviour before, and was wondering if ...not only the piglet thing was paramount, but that perhaps the heat had something to do with it? It has completely changed my mind now about these creatures and I will take every care to avoid them in future, but living totally surrounded by forest in the Forest of Dean doesn't help! It has been reported to the Forestry Commission but unfortunately no amount of available wild boar literature now seems to be able to pacify my naturally concerned rural neighbours, who, all have young children and disabled family members ... what a dilema! Hope this might be of some statistical use. After Wednesday I rather think it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt, whereas before, I thought all these 'Boar chases me' stories were just hyped up!" Pictured right are the wild boar referred to (© Martyn K Williams reproduced with permission).
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| What caused the wild boar to chase Martyn Williams? - was it the heat, the presence of young, or was Martyn just in the wrong place at the wrong time? - it would be useful to know! |
Examples of wild boar coming face-to-face with members of the British public are published on this page. All reports are printed with the authors permission and are reproduced faithfully except for minor editing to remove names and exact locations for confidentiality reasons. The reports here are concerned only with the free-living British wild boar and the British public, using first hand experiences reported directly to us. If you have had such a confrontation or wild boar experience, do please let us know your story by emailing British Wild Boar.
Nasty Fall
"Yesterday, the 25th September, my daughter was walking on the edge of the Ashridge Estate close to St Katherines Way in Berkhamsted and was confronted by 3 wild boar that stared at her for a number of minutes then started growling and coming towards her. Scared, she climbed a tree, unfortunately losing her grip and falling, which must have frightened the boar who ran off.
However the fall has caused my daughter mild concussion, as diagnosed after a 3 hour stay at a local hospital last night.
This area of woods backs on to residential property and is regularly used by walkers and children from the local school.
I am vey concerned that a more serious incident is just waiting to happen."
Yours sincerely, MH
Wild Camping
"I was wild camping last night on edge of the Wye near Symonds Yat [Forest of Dean] and early this morning me and my friend were awaken by a pack of wild boar. They were 10 feet away and we stared at each other for a minute or two before they ran off. It was about 7am this morning. It was a fantastic sight.
We were only in hammocks and had a fantastic experience"
Paul
Missed photo opportunity in the Dean
"On a circular walk from New Fancy View, Forest of Dean on Sunday 4 May 2008, we saw a group of 10 -12 boar including 1 [possibly 2] large dark male(s), 3 – 4 females and 6+ piglets moving onto a pathway near Blakeney Walk.
After both parties had stopped and stared at each other from a distance of approximately 100m, on our part with more than some amazement, the group moved back into the forest, when we reach this point they where again visible through the trees for a short period before disappearing.
Just as we had started this section of the walk, the guide noted that ‘if you are quiet you may see some deer’, sighting the boar group although a surprise, was much more interesting and memorable.
If we had not just stood and stared, we would have had ample time to take a number of photographs."
Diane & John, Gloucestershire
Tame wild boar in Devon:
"The boar in the Tavey valley here in Devon are definitely not wild. This morning I was in the woods (reasonably remote admittedly) and as I arrived on a quad bike a young male just walked up to within 2 yards of me. He just took a look and carried on foraging and worked his way up the hillside. He took no notice as I started a chain-saw. Interestingly he had just had a mud wallow in a nearby stream which made tracking him easy for a bit.
I have checked other parts of our woodland and there are signs of boar foraging with a selection of slot sizes, indicating more than just this lone male."
Pedro, Devon.
"License and registration please." An inquisitive sow photographed in Lithuania. We have not quite reached this situation in the UK - yet! (©Ramunas Stepanauskas http://ramunas.myweb.uga.edu/Lithuania/)
You can run but you can't hide:
"I have been reading the confrontation bit of the website and perhaps you would like to include the following either there or in the distribution and sightings page. As I have said to you before I generally go to Beckley [East Sussex].
I have had a few trips to see boars this year but none since late summer when my best score was 12 (2 groups, 1 adult with 5 young 4 of which were white, and the other group containing at least 3 well grown and 3 young of the year, 1 white young one.) Unfortunately the first group was too far off in the late dusk and the second caught me facing the wrong way down the track, so got no pix.
I have been trying to photograph boars in Sussex for several years and have found them to be shy and retiring. They are most active around dusk at which time, in my experience, they emerge onto forest tracks cautiously. On every occasion that I have seen them they have run away as soon as they have detected me, sometimes at very close ranges (25 down to 5 yards). They depart so quickly that I have only a couple of distant pictures of them, but I will keep trying.
I remain wary of them but it is hard to be too scared of something that always runs away. It is always a thrill to see them."
John from Farnborough, Hampshire.
Everything in the garden is not rosy:
"We posted in July sighting of Boar in my mother’s garden in W. Sussex, an escapee from her neighbour’s wild boar farm.
Apparently some one had cut the fencing and 35 animals had escaped. The farmer therefore disclaims all responsibility for their escape and consequent damage, suggesting that as a sort of Act of God his insurance would not cover damage to other’s property or persons. Since July the beasts have returned in force, on one day we have seen a sow with 10 piglets, on another a sow with two tiny slivers of piglet that my mother thinks were born under the camellia bush in her drive.
The problem is this. They have now uprooted about an acre of turf, making the garden almost inaccessible to her for fear of tripping. The gardener can no longer mow the lawn because of the turves thrown up, and indeed is unhappy about having to confront them on his own turf -so to speak- so has downed tools. He is elderly, has had a heart bypass operation and I fear could be at risk if exposed to shock. My mother clearly fears for his safety and worries that she as the landowner could herself be liable should anything happen. Furthermore, she herself no longer dares to go into the garden, and she is particularly concerned should any visitors to her land suffer damage.
The garden after an univited wild boar visit
After no sightings for a week, yesterday (Friday) when walking round the garden I heard laboured snorting from a large patch of hydrangeas, a dozen semi grown (about 3 ft long) piglets flew out in all directions then the mother emerged, squared up to me at a distance of 20 metres, and emanated some aggressive snorts. I put my hands on my hips and we entered a full on staring match. After some seconds Mrs B turned away and trotted tail-in-air down to the woods.
We had a garden contractor visit us in the evening. He stated he could re-turf the damaged lawn, but at some cost because he could only use small machinery between the old and rare apple trees in the garden. Anyway, this work could be rendered useless if there were further visits from our wb neighbours. Adding to this the garden is adjacent to several square miles of National Trust woodland, which I guess will act as a reserve for the beasts. In other words, the farmer is now powerless to round them up.
This contractor was accompanied by a fencing contractor, who suggested if he put up a new chestnut paling fence along her boundary in the woods, this would obviate the problem and the garden could be returfed quickly, whilst there remains a smidgeon of growing season (ie before November). This morning I rang our insurance company, who seemed bemused by the problem; they then stated that this damage was not covered under her policy, and we would have to take it up with the wild boar farmer. This is becoming a circular argument given that the farmer denies liability.
I have been reading the House of Lords case of Mirvahedy v Henley, which alludes to the fact that the Wild Animals Act 1971 states among other things (s1) "Where any damage is caused by an animal which belongs to a dangerous species, a keeper of the animal is liable for the damage, except as otherwise provided by this Act."
It is my understanding that as a condition of the licence held by the farmer to keep wild boar, he has to have insurance and as far as I can see, the wild boar are classified as dangerous wild animals and he has to accept liability for damage they cause even though their escape was none of his fault (ie he was not negligent).
We don’t want to get into some tangled Jarndyce v Jarndyce affair, that would not restore the garden before winter sets in, would not mitigate the immediate danger to my mother, her friends and gardener, would not get the lawn mown, and would not stop the beasts returning to start on the hostas, camellias and other rare flora. Only a fence would do it, and quick, before the damage grows. Is this not something the farmer should pay for? (My ma cannot afford to stock proof fence in 5 acres just like that!)"
PW, Hampshire.
Wild boar sows with young in a forest ride. The sows are extremely unlikely to be aggressive towards you, but the maternal instinct to protect is very strong so why chance it - should common sense dictate that you choose another path? Or would you prefer the wild boar to not be there at all? (© Marc Josephs 55543 Bad Kreuznach). |
A close encounter of the sandy kind - no, this did not happen at Blackpool nor Bognor Regis - but it may one day! |
Deborah from East Sussex:
"A large sow boar last night did some damage to my car. She ran off with a headache and I was left with a bashed car and having the fun of explaining it to my insurance company this morning!! Very shocked that such a beast is running freely in my village"
- Deborah, East Sussex. Sept 2005.
Trevor from Broad Oak:
"Just thought I'd let you know I ran over and killed a Wild Boar on 3rd Feb, about 1.5 miles away from Broad Oak about 6:30 in the evening. The pig was about 130 pounds (and tasted very nice, I had to have something back from having to pay out £250 excess on my insurance). The hassle I had with the repairs to my new car very much made me regret hitting it but at least it did die very quick. I have been driving that road for 25 years and that is the first Boar I have seen. Also it had a snare around its snout and it had lead shot in its rear end!! Not had a very good life and there are illegal poachers out there!"
- Trevor, East Sussex. Mar 2006.
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