This page provides information about what to do if you come across an injured free-living wild boar.
Wild boar are very hardy animals and are rarely sick, however they frequently cross roads without following the green cross code and are a bullet magnet for hunters. Therefore most injured wild boar will be road traffic victims or have gun shot wounds. They may be in considerable pain and are likely to act in an unpredictable manner. This is not a situation to be taken lightly, as an injured wild boar is arguably the most dangerous wild animal in the UK for professional wildlife casualty personnel to deal with.
1. It is important to realise that if you can get close enough to touch a free-living wild boar then it is a very poorly animal indeed, as their normal response to people is to quickly flee.
2. Wild boar are not dangerous by nature, but a sick or injured wild boar can be very dangerous. Males over two years old have tusks in the lower jaw that are razor sharp. These are his main weapons. With a flick of his head he can sever human skin, including arteries. Sows can inflict serious bite wounds.
Be aware that even if apparently ‘out for the count’, a boar that was only stunned can suddenly revive and move very quickly. Thus if you are standing behind an animal that appears lifeless, it may still turn it’s head, with tusks and teeth pointing towards you, in an instant.
1. Call the police. The police should be involved as wild boar in captivity are officially classed as dangerous wild animals and hence there are public safety concerns. Defra state that 'If you are concerned that wild boar are present and a safety hazard in a particular area you should inform the local Police'. Unfortunately, nearly all injured adult boar found at the roadside are put-down. This requires a big loud gun, so play safe with your gun license and your public liability insurance and have the police there to authorise any mercy killings.
2. Stay away from the head end! This end has the teeth, tusks and bite. It is vital not to go within striking range of this area.
3. A frightened or injured boar does not care who is in the way when it is trying to run or hobble back to the woods. The animal may go passed you, but flatten some innocent bystander who just happened to be in the way.
It is only advisable to transport an injured wild boar (i.e. to the wildlife hospital) when it is fully sedated. Unless very strong welded steel mesh cages are available a boar not sedated will break out if it is not too badly injured. A horsebox may not necessarily be strong enough.
The cages and pens typically seen at wildlife hospitals will also not be strong enough to hold a recovering boar. With regard to pens, wild boar can jump surprisingly high and can root under most fences. On a wild boar farm, the fencing needs to be at least five foot high and dug into the ground by one foot. An electric wire is also recommended. A boar rehabilitating in a wildlife hospital would therefore need a specially made pen, which they are unlikely to have due to their high construction cost.
With respect to the dedicated people who work in wildlife rehabilitation, to successfully rehabilitate an injured free-living wild boar in a typical wildlife hospital environment would be highly problematical.
However, piglets (boarlets) are a different matter, and here intervention may increase the survival chances of orphaned or abandoned piglets (boarlets).
It is a fact of life that wild boar sows with dependent piglets get shot or run over. The consequences are that orphaned piglets may be left to starve to death, which most members of the public will find unacceptable and will inevitably be unable to resist intervening.
As with baby birds, it is essential to make certain the piglets have been abandoned and are not just resting in the undergrowth with mum sleeping close by, enjoying a break from her maternal duties. Fortunately, determining this is usually straightforward with wild boar, as sows are very good mothers and will come running to the aid of their piglets at the first sound or scent of trouble. And it is not a good idea to be interfering with piglets, good intentions aside, when the sow arrives.