Notice Board

Contents:

Boar is back on a forest mission

Wild boar continue their association with Royalty

Carry on camping!

Internet hunting

Domestication of pigs

The wild boars' rooting made a pitch inspection unnecessary!

Position Statement (from The Mammal Society)

Cute pigle photo

A letter written to the Secretary of State

Local Art

Foot and Mouth Disease (in 2001)

Swine Fever outbreak (in 2000)

Response [about wild boar] by the Game Conservancy Trust

Wildlife Group calls for Wild Boar Eradication:

Boar is back on a forest mission
David Ross, Highland Correspondent	August 24 2005
Wild boar roamed Scotland's woods and scrubland until the the end of the seventeenth century, when the final one rooted its last in Britain's forests. Over-hunting and absorption into domestic stock heralded their demise as an indigenous wild mammal, leaving their bones to be discovered in Scottish caves, the brick earth of the Thames Valley, and the peat bogs of Ireland. But now they are back, making their important environmental contribution. This time it is in the beauty of Glen Affric national nature reserve, helping with the restoration of native trees such as pine, rowan and birch. At present, boars are being held in test areas of just more than an acre each. But once the young are weaned in the next two weeks, they will be released into a much larger area, totalling 54 acres. There will be two enclosures, each divided in two for young and adults. The £50,000 project is the brainchild of Liz Balharry, an ecologist, and Rae Grant, a local stalker, who approached the Forestry Commission seeking land that had established Scots pines, but surrounded by areas for regeneration. Mrs Balharry said: "They said they would be happy to go along with us as long as there was enough local support. We demonstrated there was sufficient support." Then they bought the boar. "They are easy to buy, but you need a licence because they are classed as dangerous animals. "They have an awful reputation, but it is really a bit of a myth. They are very nice to work with, very placid. I let my children feed them. I have one boar, Boris by name, eight sows and 40 young." Mrs Balharry added: "They are from farmed stock but have settled in well to their life in the pinewoods. Watching the small stripy boarlets running under their mothers and disappearing into tunnels in the heather, watching the sows gently rooting and hearing their soft low grunting, which keeps the group together as they forage . . . stirs the imagination about times past." But they are also doing a job, she said. "It is obvious already that they are really good at keeping the bracken down. They like eating the fronds and the roots. They also like the ground where the bracken is growing so they prefer to root there rather than areas where there is bracken or blaeberry growing. The patches of well turned soil left behind from their rooting, we hope, will also provide a fertile seed bed for the regeneration of native species of trees." The project will monitor seedling establishment over the next few years and compare those areas exposed to the boar with those which are not. "We will also be able to compare the smaller area they are in now . . . to the larger areas where we probably keep them for a couple of years." The project is supported by the Forestry Commission, the Leader Plus programme, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Trees for Life.

Wild boar continue their association with Royalty

From the Times on-line web site. (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1697810,00.html).

Blue boar heralds Camilla's royal life

by David Sanderson

The full status of the Duchess of Cornwall in the royal family has been marked with the issue of a new coat of arms. It features a blue boar standing on its hind legs opposite a roaring lion. The severed head of a second wild pig is portrayed on a shield between them.

The coat of arms, with its elaborate heraldic symbols, features elements taken from the arms both of her father, Major Bruce Shand, and her husband, the Prince of Wales.

Clarence House said yesterday the Queen, who approved the coat of arms, had taken a “keen interest” in its development along with Charles and Camilla. Its design was released yesterday to coincide with Camilla’s 58th birthday.

The shield at the centre is flanked by a “royal lion supporter” from Charles and the boar on its hind legs, complete with golden tusks, from the Shand family emblem.

Camilla is entitled to use the arms on her letterhead, as well as any flags and personal possessions. It also features an arched crown, which she is entitled to use as the wife of the heir to the throne.

Carry on camping!

From a BBC News web site. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/gloucestershire/4361679.stm).

Tourists get wild boar protection

Campsites in Gloucestershire are to be protected from wild boar attacks with wire mesh fences. The Forestry Commission will erect two four-foot barriers around campsites in the Forest of Dean that are vulnerable to attack from the animals. A 40-strong herd of the pigs has been roaming the forest since December of last year. The fences will run for one and a half miles, and be placed around sites in the Berry Hill area, near Coleford.

Rob Guest, the Forestry Commission's deputy surveyor, said the pigs had been damaging campsites in the area.

Can be shot

"They have been digging up areas around the forest and have now got on to the sites, causing damage. "At the moment the pigs are still pretty tame, they tend to run towards people rather than run away from them. "The fences will help protect the campsites but they will also protect campers as we don't want a situation where the pigs are attracted to the sites by the smell of food. "Having a pig in your tent would not be a nice situation," he added. Forest managers fear the herd will revert to natural wild boar behaviour and gain a permanent foothold in the forest ecosystem.

Earlier this year Gloucestershire Trading standards confirmed that the animals, which can grow to 6ft in length, can be shot if found on private land.

Postscript:

"While camping on a remote beach on Catalina Island, a pack of wild boar came down from the hills and ransacked everything we owned. We were sure we were next, but once they got into our cooler and ate everything, they departed. Although this was almost 40 years ago, it remains a vivid memory."

Mary Canavan, Berkeley

from an article called 'Your best camping tale' (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/15/EBGPJD2B001.DTL)

Internet Hunting

From the San Francisco Chronicle - USA . (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/gloucestershire/4361679.stmDTL).

You won't find much agreement between Safari Club International, the world's leading trophy hunting organization, and the Humane Society of the United States. But one little patch of common ground has appeared just outside San Antonio, Texas, where a man named John Lockwood has managed to earn the disapproval of both groups.

Lockwood owns a 336-acre exotic hunting ranch in Central Texas. There the owners stock exotic wildlife -- from Barbary sheep to blackbuck antelope to wild boar -- and offer them up to fee-paying clients to shoot. It's "no kill, no pay" hunting, and the killing is all but guaranteed given that confined animals have no opportunity to escape.

Lockwood has now taken the idea of canned hunting one step further: He has devised a means of targeting and shooting animals by remote control via the Internet. Clients going to his Web site, www.Live-shot.com, can see their prey on camera, manipulate a firearm mounted on a mechanized tripod, wait for their moment, and deliver deadly fire with the click of a mouse.

A hunter, using the best rifle, might be able to take a shot at an animal from half a mile. Now, thanks to Lockwood, a hunter can fire a shot from hundreds, even thousands of miles away.

It's an imprecise method, and apparently Lockwood expects a fair number of wounded animals. But he's got that problem figured out as well. "If the customer were to wound the animal," as a report in the San Antonio Express- News explained, "a staff person on site could finish it off."

"Trophy mounts" taken in these heroics will then be prepared and shipped to customers, just like when one orders a jacket from L.L. Bean. If the idea catches on, Lockwood expects to do very well for himself -- although, he insists, that's not his main purpose.

His real concern is to furnish recreational opportunities to "disabled hunters." And so, we're to believe, there is a charitable element to it as well.

All of this was still on the drawing board until a few days ago. According to news reports, the first victim of Live-shot.com was a boar, shot as an experiment by someone sitting at a computer in Germany. Another kill is planned for April, and after that Lockwood hopes his hunting innovation will be fully operational for any Internet user.

It will, too, unless authorities act quickly to stop the whole vile enterprise. So far, the Virginia Legislature has passed the first bill banning Internet hunting. Similar bills are pending in 10 other states, including California, where state Sen. Debra Bowen has introduced SB1028 to combat the practice.

The California Legislature should act swiftly on this bill before Internet hunting spreads. For its part, Congress should act immediately, because the activity involves interstate commerce.

Bad ideas have a way of breeding, and it doesn't take a sinister turn of mind to see how the technology of remote-control hunting might readily be applied to the sniper killing of human beings.

Even the Safari Club International -- a group that rarely sees any form of hunting it doesn't fancy -- has taken a stand. "It doesn't meet any fair- chase criteria," says Jerod Broadfoot, a lobbyist for the Safari Club. told the Medford Mail Tribune in Oregon. "You are not on the location. You're not even there." National Rifle Association spokeswoman Kelly Hobbs agrees. "The NRA has always maintained that fair chase, being in the field with your firearm or bow, is an important element of hunting tradition," she said in an interview with the Sacramento Bee. "Sitting at a desk in front of your computer, clicking at a mouse, has nothing to do with hunting."

If allowed to spread, the whole practice would turn the experience of hunting into a cheap and garish game. It would mark a complete abandonment of any pretense to fairness, honor or moral self-restraint in the treatment of wildlife. Lockwood and his customers clearly cannot be relied on to restrain themselves. At the state and federal level, the law must do it for them, in the interest of community safety and of public decency.

Wayne Pacelle is president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.

Domestication of pigs

From a News in Science website. (http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1318240.htm).

Globetrotting pigs were farmers' friends

by Judy Skatssoon ABC Science Online Friday, 11 March 2005

DNA analysis has shed new light on pig domestication, which tells us more about our own patterns of civilisation (Image: Science/Jeff Veitch) Pigs were domesticated in more parts of the world than previously thought, a new study says, shedding fresh light on the blossoming of human civilisation.

The international study, based on an analysis of pig and wild boar DNA and published today in the journal Science, says wild boars were domesticated at least seven times across Eurasia. The researchers say that it was once believed that pigs, like sheep and cattle, came from Asian genetic stock and Neolithic farmers imported them into Europe. That theory was based largely on archaeological evidence of decreasing tooth size and a predominance of young animals, indicating the pigs were being fed and bred rather than simply hunted and eaten. But the latest study, led by Professor Alan Cooper, who was at the University of Oxford at the time of the research and is now at Australia's University of Adelaide, used genetic markers to find new centres of domestication in central Italy, India, Burma/Thailand and New Guinea.

"New genetic data reveal multiple centres of domestication across Eurasia and that European, rather than near eastern, wild boar are the principal source of modern European domestic pigs," the authors report.

Australian animal genetics expert Associate Professor Chris Moran of the University of Sydney says the study suggests that several wild boar populations were separately domesticated.

"The main thing the paper is saying is that there are probably more independent domestications of pigs than the two currently recognised domestications in Europe and Asia/China, although these two events probably account for the vast majority of all extant pigs throughout the world," he says.

What's so special about pigs?

The domestication of animals and plants marks a key transition in human prehistory. Early hunter gatherers preyed on wild boar (Sus scrofa), from which modern pigs are descended, until the early Holocene period about 11,000 years ago. Shortly after this, pigs and other animals were being kept and bred, signalling an important change in their relationship with humans. But it's unclear whether the revolution from hunter gatherer to farmer and producer took place in a few select locations or involved multiple, independent "events", the researchers say.

Moran says the research suggests that human civilisation had many opportunities to flourish. "It supports the idea of whether the spread human ingenuity and intelligence was just a matter of opportunity," he says. "What this study is suggesting is that there might have been a few more opportunities than previously thought." Domestication of pigs across the various regions may have occurred between about 10,000 and 3,300 years before the present, the researchers say, although the dates need to be validated through carbon dating of pig remains.

DNA as a molecular clock

Researchers used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to trace the origins of modern pigs back to their ancestors in various regions going back to the warthog, says co-author Dr Stewart Lowden, who was at the University of Edinburgh at the time of the research. The researchers compared DNA from 686 modern pigs, indigenous wild boars, feral pigs and museum specimens. "If it's similar you can do all the calculations and put a tree together that can give an indication of how far away or close that pig is [to an ancestor]," Lowden says. There is little change in the mtDNA from generation to generation and the rate of mutations in this DNA can be measured. So, based on the time it takes for mutations to appear, scientists can estimate when populations split. This makes mtDNA a powerful tool for tracking family lineage, a technique that has been used for tracking many species back thousands of generations.

From a German site (http://www.altmuehlnet.de/~djk-rai/archiv/04sportplatz_wildschwein1.htm).

The wild boars' rooting made a pitch inspection unnecessary!

Position Statement (from The Mammal Society)

The following is The Mammal Societies' Position Statement on wild boar. Playing the devils advocate, the report is late arriving and just repeats everything already stated in the original Central Society Report written in 1998. It is also so awash with political correctness it could have been written by DEFRA themselves - passion and enthusiasm are not mutually exclusive to common sense and good science! Most bizzarely the Mammal Society, whose Mission Statement is to 'protect British mammals', even suggest considering the possibility of a local eradication of one of the three fledgeling wild boar populations just as an exercise to see if it is feasible should a disease outbreak occur; "In the event of a disease outbreak, local eradication might be needed. The possibility of trialling this in one of the populations should be considered".

Please read the Position Statement and let me know your opinion. I will post your views below.

The re - establishment of wild boar, Sus scrofa, in Britain

Summary

The 1998 report by the Central Science Laboratory to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food confirmed that there are free living populations of wild boar on the Kent/East Sussex border and also in Dorset; subsequent information suggests another small population near the Forest of Dean. The Mammal Society cautiously welcomes this return of a native species to the wild mammal fauna of Britain.

The Mammal Society acknowledges that responsible reintroductions should take place within the framework of the IUCN guidelines. The Mammal Society recognises that such accidental reintroductions can have positive and negative effects and accepts that further work is urgently needed with regard to the size and management of these populations and their potential effect on the British countryside in the long term. Depending on the outcome of such work, this welcoming position might need revision.

History

The wild boar, Sus scrofa, is a native British species. It probably became extinct as a wild species at the end of the 13th century (Yalden 1999). After this date wild boar were maintained for game and as a status symbol by introduction of new stock from France and Germany and through hybridisation with domestic and feral pigs. By the 17th century no wild boar were found in Britain, suggesting that the medieval reintroductions were not successful, possibly because of hunting pressure.

Despite the failure of the medieval reintroductions, populations of wild boar have now established themselves in the south of England. A report by Central Science Laboratory (CSL 1998), commissioned by the former Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (MAFF), confirmed the presence of small populations in the Kent/East Sussex borders and in Dorset. Stock from Europe has been imported to Britain for specialist farms, and it is believed that the populations in the wild derive from unintended escapes of such stock.

Legal requirements

Article 11 of the Bern Convention (European Union 1982) requires member states "to encourage the reintroduction of native species of wild flora and fauna when this would contribute to the conservation of an endangered species". It is unlikely that wild boar falls under this article, as it is not an endangered species in Europe; indeed it is regarded as a pest in many agricultural areas. However, as a native species The Mammal Society would in principal like to see wild boar re-established in this country. Legally, wild boar is not currently listed in UK legislation as a game species. If these populations are allowed to develop, legislation must be revised, to formalise the legal requirements covering use of firearms (minimum calibre, shooting seasons and times). It is listed under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, which requires keepers to be licensed. Wild animals belong to no-one, and it is unclear whether the presence of a potentially dangerous wild animal on land might render landowners liable in some circumstances.

English Populations

The report by CSL concludes that there are two populations of free living wild boar in England, one of 200-300 on the Kent/East Sussex border and one of < 50 in Dorset (CSL 1998, Wilson 2003). Anecdotal information indicates that there may be a third small population, in the Forest of Dean. From carcasses that were examined, CSL has not yet concluded that the populations are of wild-type wild boar rather than hybrids. If they are truly wild boar then The Mammal Society welcomes the news. However, we feel that further, genetic, work is urgently needed to confirm this conclusion. Genetic work in Europe has confirmed, by analysis of mtDNA, that modern domestic breeds of pig include genes from Chinese pigs, the result of 19th century breeding experiments (Kim et al. 2002, Alves et al. 2003). If wild boar have been crossed with modern breeds, this should therefore be readily discernible. Some ancient breeds are not very different from wild boar, and hybrids from these, especially the old European domestic pig strains, may be harder to detect. Little conservation interest would be attached to a population of feral domestic pig crosses, if that is what they should turn out to be.

Benefits and problems

Agriculture

The rooting behaviour of wild boar at their natural carrying capacity can cause considerable agricultural damage (Schley and Roper, 2003) but whether this currently leads to economic loss in the UK has yet to be confirmed. It has also been reported that agricultural damage is correlated with mast production; wild boar preferentially consume acorns and beech mast when available, and consumption of agricultural crops is only likely to occur in years of poor natural food supply (Schley and Roper, 2003).

A more likely risk to farming is the possibility of disease transmission to domestic stock. Wild boar have been known to visit domestic pig sows in Dorset and Kent, resulting in hybrid piglets (CSL 1998). If a disease that currently only occasionally occurs in Britain such as Classical Swine Fever (CSF), Foot-and-Mouth or Aujeszki’s Disease passed from domestic stock to wild boar, they could then act as a reservoir for the disease and continually re-infect domestic stock. The economic consequences of this could be severe. CSF is currently present in some wild boar populations in certain parts of Europe and it has been demonstrated that they act as a reservoir for infection; during outbreaks among wild boar, the disease has been passed to domestic stock (Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Welfare, 1999) To decrease the likelihood of this happening it is important that fencing, handling and transport of both domestic pig and wild boar stocks is extremely secure, decreasing the possibility of transmission from herds to free living wild boar. Secure fencing is also important to reduce the possibility of free-living wild-type wild boar being contaminated by domestic escapes. Currently wild boar do not occur in areas with substantial domestic pig rearing. Steps should be taken to ensure that this continues to be the case.

Nature Conservation

Although wild boar are an important addition to the wild mammal fauna of Britain, their re-establishment could have positive or negative effects for nature conservation, especially in our more ancient woodlands. Wild boar rooting behaviour could impact on the diversity of woodland flora (Leaper et al, 1999) and on specific species such as the lady orchid, Orchis purpurea (found in Kentish woodlands) and the bluebell, Hyacinthoides non - scripta. British bluebell woodlands are unique, scarcely matched elsewhere in Europe, perhaps due to the lack of soil disturbance in Britain by wild boar. However wild boar rooting could be beneficial in the control of bracken through the destruction of its rhizomes and certain habitats have a greater species diversity as a result of wild boar rooting activities (Leaper et al, 1999)

It is true that wild boar co-existed with these woodlands before the wild boar became extinct at the end of the 13th century but what their reintroduction after 700 years of absence will mean is unknown. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) carried out in Europe, Australia and USA have been contradictory in that wild boar have sometimes been found to reduce the number of plant and animal species but elsewhere to increase the biodiversity of plant species. Part of these contradictions arise from the fact that wild boar is not native in some of these countries (e.g. Australia and USA) and because they can reach unnaturally high densities in these countries due to the presence of crops and the absence of natural predators.

Population Size

The CSL report also includes computer modelling of population size and the geographical area over which it may extend. They conclude that the populations will continue to grow, slowly at first but, in the absence of their natural predators (bear and wolf), this rate could increase. This could be exacerbated if these animals are hybrids, given the greater fecundity of hybrid stock (CSL, 1998). On the continent wild boar numbers are often controlled by hunting (with a sustainable harvest of 0.4 million taken from a population of 0.5 million; Myberget 1990), the revenue being partly used to compensate for agricultural damage. It is unlikely that the less-wooded British countryside could support the number of wild boar seen on the continent but the controlled legislated hunting of wild boar as a method of population control and to bring in revenue could be a possibility. Evidence from both Dorset and Kent/Sussex suggests that culling rates are currently sufficient to limit population increase.

Further work

Culling has failed to control deer populations in Britain adequately. Adequate monitoring of the boar population, and modelling to determine the culling regime required to prevent range expansion, is essential. In the event of a disease outbreak, local eradication might be needed. The possibility of trialling this in one of the populations should be considered.

The Mammal Society believes that further work is needed to determine the exact nature of the populations of wild boar living in the South of England. If they are of wild-type wild boar, then this re-establishment of a native species is to be welcomed. If they are hybrids then careful consideration needs to be given to their removal.
If they are hybrids to be removed, the reintroduction of genetically true wild boar can be planned following IUCN guidelines, with public consultation and proper preparation of suitable sites. It is unlikely that the sites where wild boar have re-established themselves are those that would have been chosen for a controlled re-introduction. It is therefore necessary that further work on the possible consequences of this re-establishment on agriculture and conservation in the South of England is carried out. Discussion of this issue needs to consider the evidence from Europe, e.g. from vets, conservationists and foresters, on how to manage a large mammal in a densely farmed landscape. Further work is also needed to assess the public’s opinion on this re-establishment (DEFRA has as a model the excellent consultation carried out by Scottish Natural Heritage on their proposed reintroduction of the European Beaver to Scotland). There has been some concern in the South of England about public safety in relation to wild boar (Wilson, 2003) and also the likelihood of attracting an irresponsible shooting element - carrying out unauthorised shooting in unsuitable areas using unsuitable weapons. For the reestablishment of wild boar to be successful, there needs to be a systematic programme to disseminate information to the public about wild boar, a planned policy devised in an educated manner, and legislation to recognise the wild boar as a game species. A formally agreed management (culling) programme, involving local landowners, farmers and game-dealers, should be part of this programme.

The Mammal Society thus agrees with the need for further work that is outlined in paragraphs 158 and 159 in the CSL report to MAFF, but this should include modelling of the resources necessary to prevent a nationwide spread. The legal aspects, including recognition of wild boar as a game species, also need attention.

References

Alves, E., Ovillo, C., Rodriquez, M.C. & Silio, L. 2003. Mitochondrial DNA sequence variation and phylogenetic relationships among Iberian pigs and other domestic and wild pig populations. Anim. Genetics 34: 319-324.

Central Science Laboratory 1998 - Current Status and Potential Impact of Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in the English Countryside: A Risk Assessment. MAFF, Nobel House, Smith Square, London

Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare. 1999 Classical Swine Fever in Wild Boar. European Commission, XXIV/B3/R09/1999. http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/scah/out24_en.pdf

Leaper, R., Massei, G., Gorman, M.L. and Aspinall, R. 1999 The feasibility of reintroducing Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) to Scotland. Mammal Review, 29, 4, 239-260

Kim, K-I., Lee, J-H., Li, K., Zhang, Y-P., Le, S.S., Gongora, J. & Moran, C. 2002. Phylogenetic relationships of Asian and European pig breeds determined by mitochondrial DNA D-loop sequence polymorphism. Anim. Genetics 33: 19-25.

Myberget, S. 1990. Wildlife management in Europe outside the Soviet Union. NINA Utredning 018: 1-47.

Schley, L. and Roper, T.J. 2003 Diet of wild boar Sus scrofa in Western Europe, with particular reference to consumption of agricultural crops. Mammal Review, 33, 1, 43-56

Scottish Natural Heritage 1998 - Re - introduction of the European Beaver to Scotland - a public consultation.

Scottish Natural Heritage, Redgorton, Perth.

Wilson, C. 2003. Distribution and status of feral wild boar Sus scrofa in Dorset, southern England. Mammal Review 33: 302-307.

Yalden, D.W. 1999. The History of British Mammals. T. & A.D. Poyser, London.

Cute piglet photo

A letter written to the Secretary of State

For interest I post a letter written to the Secretary of State enquiring about wild boar and biodiversity. Still still no reply to date but if a response is ever forthcoming, I will post it here.

The Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP
Secretary of State for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR

16 Dec 2003

Ref: A biodiversity strategy for England

Dear Secretary of State,

I have just read, and fully applaud, the DEFRA publication ‘A biodiversity strategy for England: Working with the grain of nature.’

As you are no doubt aware, two populations of wild boar are recognised to exist in England, one in Dorset and a second on the East Sussex/Kent border. The purpose of my letter is to enquire how the wild boar fit with the Biodiversity Strategy for England. As a reintroduced (albeit accidentally) former native species, they appear to satisfy several aims of the biodiversity strategy. For example, boar are a woodland species and by their very presence have increased woodland biodiversity. The boar have also reversed a previous biodiversity loss. Furthermore, as a former native species, they appear to side-step issues concerning non-native invasive species.

I have an academic and professional interest in the wild boar of England and would be most interested in the answer to my enquiry.

Yours sincerely

Dr Martin Goulding CBiol MIBiol

Local Art

8. Foot and Mouth Disease (in 2001)

View English Natures' position statement on culling wildlife in light of the F&M epidemic

View the DEFRA's (formerly MAFF) Veterinary Risk Assessment on the risk of free-living wild boar becoming infected with FMD

For breaking information about the disease visit MAFF's Website

Swine Fever outbreak (in 2000)

Swine Fever Latest News: For an 'official' daily update on the swine fever outbreak view the DEFRA's (formerly MAFF) Website

Response by the Game Conservancy Trust (GCT) to DEFRA's intitial report [in 1998] that wild boar are at large in southern England

Wildlife Group calls for Wild Boar Eradication: Press statement

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