"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, Broad Oak, East Sussex. Mar 2006.
Legally speaking, Britain’s free-living wild boar are in a grey area. Legal arguments as to whether the free-living wild boar are actually a ‘wild’, ‘feral’ ‘domestic’ ‘native or non-native’ species, and who is ‘accountable for’ or ‘the owner’ of the animals will give the legal profession a license to print money making them all as rich as Croesus.
Outlines of the relevant legislative Acts that may encompass wild boar are listed below with their possible relevance to wild boar. (I acknowledge Defra's contribution to the information on this page).
A wild boar amongst hunting dogs in France- is it good or bad that we are unlikely to see this sight in Britain? .
Animal Welfare
1. The Protection of Animals Acts 1911-1927 provides general protection for all domestic or captive animals and makes it an offence to wantonly or unreasonably do anything, or omit to do anything, as a result of which unnecessary suffering is caused.
With respect to wild boar, The scope of these Acts is considered to include wild or feral animals, therefore cage-trapping a wild boar and causing it to unnecessarily suffer would be illegal.
2. The Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 protects all wild mammals against specific acts of cruelty intended to cause unnecessary suffering.
With respect to wild boar, Snaring would definitely be illegal, cage-trapping acceptable if not done cruelly, and shooting a wild boar with inadequate calibre rifles is just asking for trouble. For historical interest, this Act would make wild boar hunting by so called ‘pig-sticking’ an offence.
The Release of Wild Animals from Captivity
1. The Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 regulates the release of non-native species into the wild. Part I section 14 of the Act makes it an offence to release, or allow to escape into the wild, any animal of a kind which is “not ordinarily resident in and is not a regular visitor to Great Britain in a wild state”.
With respect to wild boar, Wild boar have now been added to Schedule 9, making the release of wild boar into the wild illegal. The change takes effect from effect from 6 April 2010.
The Keeping of Wild Animals in Captivity
1. The Zoo Licensing Act 1981 (as amended) regulates the keeping of wild animals in zoos or wildlife centres for exhibition to the public. This Act covers all species that are not normally domesticated in Great Britain.
With respect to wild boar, the origin of an escapee (whether from a farm, zoo, abbatoir or wildlife centre) would be impossible to prove in a court of law as captive wild boar do not have to be identity tagged. However, from personal experience, the standard of fencing around boar enclosures in wildlife centres is often far poorer than that seen in wild boar farms.
2. The Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 (DWA Act) governs the keeping of farmed wild boar. The main purpose of the Act is to ensure that dangerous wild animals kept by individuals are properly cared for and kept securely in a manner that does not present a risk to the public. The species covered by the Act are listed in a Schedule to the Act. This was amended by The Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 (Modification) Order 1984, which added to the Schedule, amongst other species, all Old-world pigs (Suidae: including wild boar but excepting the domestic pig). In addition, hybrids of the species listed, where one or both parents are of a kind listed, are also covered by the Act. The DWA Act is administered by local authorities and it is an offence to keep an animal covered by the Act without an appropriate licence issued by the relevant local authority.
The DWA act states that a local authority must not issue a licence unless it is satisfied, amongst other things, that:
• It is “not contrary to the public interest on the grounds of safety,nuisance or otherwise”,
• Any animal kept under the licence will be “held in accommodationwhich ensures that the animal will not escape”, and
• “All reasonable precautions will be taken at all such times to preventand control the spread of infectious disease”.
With respect to wild boar, there is no specific provision in the Act requiring action from a licensee to recover escaped animals. In real life, not all escapes of wild boar are from farms as opposed to zoos or wildlife centres, but again, the origin of an escapee (whether from a farm, zoo, abattoir or wildlife centre) would be nearly impossible to prove in a court of law as wild boar do not have to be identity tagged.
Section 4 of the Act gives local authorities power to seize an animal(s), and retain or destroy it, if the animal is being kept contrary to the Act or any condition of the licence under which it is held. No compensation is payable if an animal is seized and the local authority is entitled to recover from the licensee any expense incurred in exercising its powers of seizure. The Local Authorities Coordination Of Regulatory Services (LACORS) does not give detailed guidance on security requirements under the DWA Act . Licensing under the Act is mainly carried out by District Councils or Unitary Authorities who, in my experience, are usually quite clueless about wild boar and their behaviour.
The DWA Act is currently under review. It was intended to keep us safe from people inclined to keep tigers and leopards in the garden shed and alligators in the baths, as opposed to farmed species. One of the proposed changes to the Act is the removal of farmed wild boar from the Act.
The good old days?
Disease Control
1. The Animal Health Act 1981 gives a minister the power to make anorder providing for the destruction of wild species in an area, provided that theMinister is satisfied that the disease “exists” among the members of that species in the area and“has been or is being transmitted from” that species to any kind of animal inthe area, and that destruction of members of the wild species is “necessary in order to eliminate, or substantially reduce the incidence of, that disease in animals of any kind in the area”.
An order made under this section of the Act may authorise “methods ofdestruction that would otherwise be unlawful” and wild species, for thepurposes of the Act, means members of a species which is “neitherdomesticated nor held in captivity”.
With respect to wild boar, Defra suggest that despite the fact that wild boar are descended from escapes of farm stock it is likely that this definition wouldinclude these animals. A number of orders have been made under the Animal Health Act that are potentially relevant to disease in wild boar. These include the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Order 1983, the Aujeszky’s Disease Order 1983, The Classical Swine Fever (England) Order 2003 and The African Swine Fever (England) Order 2003. Each of these orders requires suspicion that an animal or carcass has the disease to be notified to the Divisional Veterinary Manager.
2. The Foot-and-Mouth Disease Order 1983 requires notification of thedisease by any “person who has in his possession or under his charge anaffected or a suspected animal, or the carcass of such an animal”.
With respect to wild boar, the Order includes “swine” but it is unclear if the requirement for notification would extend to wild boar. However, at the time of writing the FMD Order is under review and it seems likely that more specific requirements for notification in wild animals will be made in the new Order.
3. The Aujeszky’s Disease Order 1983 requires notification by the “owner of an affected or suspected animal or carcass” or “any veterinary surgeon or other person who, in the course of his duties, examines or inspects such an animal or carcass”.
With respect to wild boar, this Order also applies to “swine” but as feral animals are not owned the requirement for notification in such animals, again, is not clear-cut. Neither of these Orders deals specifically with the control of wild or feral species for disease control. The issue of additional specific orders for this purpose under section 21 of the 1981 Act would appear to be necessary.
4. The Classical Swine Fever (England) Order 2003 requires notificationby “any person who suspects the disease in any pig or carcass” which is inhis possession, under his charge, or examined or inspected by him.
With respect to wild boar, the Order also makes provision for the Secretary of State to declare a “Feral pig investigation zone” if there is “reason to suspect that the disease exists in feral pigs”. Within this zone “any person who shoots, or finds the carcass of, a feral pig” must notify the DVM. If he shot the animal he must also keep the carcass “for at least 24 hours after informing the DVM” and make it available for sampling and testing. If the disease is confirmed in feral pigs the Secretary of State may establish an “infected area” of “sufficient size to cover the area where the disease is suspected to be present”. Furtherrestrictions and requirements may be applied within the infected area,including the suspension of hunting and banning the feeding of feral pigs. Inthe context of the Order “feral pig” would also mean wild boar. A separateorder would appear to be required to instigate control measures against feralpigs.
5. The African Swine Fever (England) Order 2003 makes similarprovisions with respect to ASF as The Classical Swine Fever (England) Order2003 does with respect to CSF.
6. The Tuberculosis (England & Wales) Order 1984 made the disease notifiable in all mammal species, except humans.
With respect to wild boar, unlike in wild deer, tuberculosis is not at present a notifiable disease in feral pigs/wild boar. However, at the time of writing there are proposals to widen the scope of the law.
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