Defra and Wild Boar

        Defra do not have an easy decision to make regarding the management of the wild boar. To eradicate the boar would be very expensive (to the taxpayer) and, even if achievable, not universally popular. But wild boar have no natural predators in the UK, so to do nothing would mean that we would be overun by wild boar. Some form of management is therefore required, but what type of mangement is the million dollar question, or million pound actually, because to-date Defra has spent over £1.5 million pounds on researching the small, but ever increasing, populations of free-living wild boar in Britain. And thats just for the research. Time will tell if it was money well spent.

Defra's Wild Boar Action Plan:

        In February 2008 Defra announced their action plan concerning the wild boar in England (Wales and Scotland are not covered) - view it here 'Feral wild boar in England: An action plan'

The most important statement within the document reads: "Defra policy is that primary responsibility for feral wild boar management lies withlocal communities and individual landowners. However, Government will helpfacilitate this regional management through the provision of advice and guidance."

Completed or current Defra wild boar research

Defra Food Standards Agency - Q01083

1997 - 1998 Current Status and Potential Impact of Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in the English Countryside: A Risk Assessment (3.29 MB .pdf file - takes a minute or two to download) 'Current Status and Potential Impact of Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in the English Countryside: A Risk Assessment' Cost undisclosed

1998 - 2004 The Ecology and Management of Wild boar in southern England (0.65 MB .pdf file) The ecology and management of wild boar (Sus scrofa) in Southern England Cost = £433,305

2003 - 2004 A study to provide rapid species-specific DNA-based assays for the identification of wild boar in meat products. Development of methods for the identification of duck, pheasant, venison, horse, donkey and wild boar in meat products Cost undisclosed

2004 - 2005 A study to investigate potential management techniques (capture and removal strategies) for wild boar in populations of low density (0.5 MB .pdf file) Investigating capture and removal strategies for wild boar at low density Cost = £59,807

2004 - 2005 A study focussing on the wild boar as a model species in which to investigate the effectiveness and potential side effects of the GnRH vaccine on the physiology, behaviour, and welfare of individual captive wild boar. (0.25 MB .pdf file) Evaluation of fertility control in captive wild boar Cost = £76,592

2005 - 2008 A study to develop and evaluate species-specific delivery of an oral GnRH vaccine in a wild boar population. Evaluation of fertility control to manage over abundant wildlife Cost = £993,336 2008 - 2011 Follow-on study (3 year extension) to further develop species-specific delivery of an oral GnRH vaccine in a wild boar population. Towards Practical Application of Emerging Fertility Control Technologies for Wildlife Management Cost = £814,994

2008 - 2011 A project to develop surveillance techniques, mitigate the impact of wild boar using an electric fence, and to develop methods to evaluate the impact of wild boar on the biodiversity of woodland habitats. Developing approaches to evaluate and mitigate the environmental impact of wild boar Cost = £262,202

Jan 2009 - Sept 2009 A project to develop a genetic test to identify wild boar meat and differentiate it from domestic pig meat. The development and validation of DNA marker methods for the verification of meat from wild boar Cost undisclosed

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