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If you have experienced a wild boar RTA please let us know, and we also strongly advise you to visit this website to log the event Deer Collissions. Yes, we appreciate it says 'deer' but there is a box on the form for wild boar, and it is early days still in monitoring the wild boar!
Heather from Herefordshire writes:
"The boar killed by a car, as per the BBC report, was also reported with a picture of the dead beast (which was huge) on a pallet. Anyway, friends of mine, with whom we had just had a meal that evening, were first on the scene of this accident, and comforted the driver who was dazed & had struggled from his car to the gutter, until the ambulance arrived!
Ali from Gloucestershire:
"Went through the Forest of
Dean at 4am this morning to get to the airport, and had to stop twice to let two separate sounders cross the road”.
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Driving advice regarding wild boar (from research carried out in Germany - see below)
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Conclusion of the tests: Road traffic accidents have claimed the lives of several wild boar in Britain, particularly where a road bisects an area of woodland. All reported accidents involving wildlife are recorded by the police authorities as ‘wild animal’ and not ‘wild boar’ incidents, so exact numbers are not available. In common with observations from the continent, most wild boar are hit during the hours of darkness as they move to their feeding areas. Their dark coats can be difficult to see, particularly on an unlit country road.
Wild boar have no fear of roads and will loiter along the grass verge whilst feeding. On the continent, most wild boar are killed in October, November and December, when the hours of darkness are greatest, visibility on the roads is the worst and male animals become particularly mobile during the rutting season. A similar seasonal trend would be expected for Britain.
No human fatalities have been reported through collisions with wild boar in Britain to-date, and this may be attributed to the lighter traffic and slower speeds used on the winding country roads that the animals most frequently cross. However, wild boar have been hit on A-roads where speeds are greater, so the potential does exist for a fatal road traffic accident involving boar.
Suggestions to reduce the number of wild boar RTA's on main roads include the construction of fencing and wildlife passages. For minor roads intermittently illuminated warning signs, preferably triggered by the crossing animal, are suggested. The need for a public education programme is also stressed. In some countries bridges are built over main roads and planted with trees, shrubs and grasses to allow the safe passage of wildlife across the road. Other countries are trialling underpasses.
Looking to the continent, where they have more experience than Britain regarding wild boar RTAs. For example, a German automobile club has conducted crash tests on life-size model wild boars to highlight the risk of road accidents involving wild boar, which are on the increase in Germany with a rising wild boar population.
"The collision with a group of wild boars at 80 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) needn't be life-threatening for the people inside the vehicle. The front of the vehicle was damaged but the passenger cell remained stable."
Back in Britain, where we are still learning.
Deer warning sign in the Forest of Dean in a grass verge rooted up
by wild boar (photo Martin Goulding)
Wild boar warning on a German road
- is now the time to order a few for Britain?
Wild boar are a significant traffic hazard.
These boar were photographed crossing a road in Lithuania,
and right on a bend too! (©Bill Shubert)
Sadly, not all make it. This boar met his maker
on a Polish road. (© unknown).
A wildlife crossing bridge.
Wild boar sow and piglets using a wildlife underpass crossing photo © Carme Rosell
When it goes wrong on the road - video clip shot from inside the car when a wild boar crosses the road. Not a gruesome video but the wild boar probably only made it to the other side in spiritual terms
