Rewilding Britain With Feral Pigs

The feral pigs in the Forest Of Dean are breeding rapidly. Some of them are enormous, up to 300kg. A true wild boar in Britain would be expected to reach a maximum weight of around 200kgs. These are feral pigs, not wild boar, they have larger numbers of piglets and grow much bigger than wild boar.

The latest survey figures estimate there are now 1,562 wild boar roaming Gloucestershire and Herefordshire’s Forest of Dean, equivalent to about 21 per sq.km.

www.pig-world.co.uk...

If the following source is accurate the Forest of Dean population is excessively high.

The density of wild boar in Europe is usually below five individuals per km2. Still higher densities of wild boar can occur when supplementary feed is given: 10 animals per km2 have been recorded in a Polish forest.

www.britishwildboar.org.uk...


The National Pig Association say this.

NPA is also calling for Defra to review the Dangerous Wild Animals Act to include wild boar crosses and to come up with properly defined criteria for a licence for farmed wild boar, such as fencing requirements.

www.farminguk.com...

The pigs in the Forest of Dean are previously domesticated crosses living wild. They are terrified of being shot or attacked by dogs. When startled by a human walking by they sometimes go into a panic, rushing around grunting and snorting. Some will inevitably fight back at some point.

Here we see the rewilder's view of feral pigs. www.rewildingbritain.org.uk...

This is a quote I disagree with.

They are highly effective bracken destroyers, creating space for trees and other plants to grow.

I've been watching a particular patch of bracken that is frequently rooted by the pigs. It hasn't diminished. I suspect they have to be fenced in on a patch to clear it. It would take a huge amount of work to fence feral pigs securely onto a patch of bracken.


The feral pig population has been allowed to grow to a size which makes friction with humans inevitable and leads to many pigs being shot. They're intelligent animals and they don't like it. Presenting this as 'rewilding' is bizarre.

One way to keep isis away

feral piggies have been a disaster in the US, ruining crops, savaging other wildlife and generally making a mess of things.

www.usatoday.com...

It's unclear what's behind the recent surge, but experts are working hard to find a way to contain them, Scientific American reports. Between the damage they cause and efforts to control them, wild pigs cost some $1.5 billion per year. In addition to eating crops, they can ruin fields by digging, threaten local species, and contaminate streams with their feces. "I've never seen any one species that can affect so many livelihoods and resources," says a Texas official.

hopefully the Brits will contain them

Here in the states, apparently pigs are not native, and they are very destructive. I read that here in Michigan, if you own any pigs that are any color but pink, you get fined for owning feral pigs, even a couple of spots on their coats is enough.

Right in my area, mostly the next county over, there were some wild pigs that escaped from a hunting preserve. Not only are they very destructive to crops and native plants, but the males get huge, are aggressive and dangerous.

Basically its open season on the wild pigs, kill on sight if possible (no hunting license necessary). I've never seen any sign of them on my property, but I've heard stories from people around here about how some kind of pit trap works the best on them.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Sounds tasty! I'm heading to da UP tonight for a week on a camping trip, would be nice to help the local environment by putting one of these piggies on a spit

Rewilding though... Really only a good thing if done top to bottom of the food chain, and considering changes. If forest land has been consumed by farm land and residential neighborhoods, perhaps it's not an adequate ecological area any more.

Where I am, there are hardly any coyotes anymore, which helps to result in constant skunkings in the area. Returning nature is generally nice, but not if it's completely out of balance with itself or the actual (rather than centuries-past) local environment.

Maybe they should reintroduce the lions back into Britain as well
That would be cool

a reply to: Kester

Well the landscape of Britain is not wild, it is artificial and man made as the entire land has been cultivated and populated since the ice age, farming goes back here a very, very long way and though there were some wild places were people did not want to live they were few and far between.

It was time that was the thing here, most large fauna was extinct well before the Roman's reached these shore's, small stunted European bear's and wolves lasted a little longer, beavers (which make the largest impact on landscape) were driven to extinction in there last stronghold's among the caledonina highland's long ago, since then farmers have managed the bulk of the landscape.

Scotland was until the 1700's much more settled, the now desolate highland's were once home to many crofters and villagers with history's dating back to before memory.

Today we have a lunatic intent on reintroducing wolves in Scotland (he has already released them on his private estate but of course they are a non native species of European wolf that is probably larger than the now extinct British wolf).

Wild boars and Ferrel pig's can actually be more dangerous to people than wolve's.

When I was a kid, oh long ago in another geological age I am sure, we could go on bike ride's and Explore the wood's and the only thing's we had to be careful of was the odd wierdo adult (we had them back then as well).

But not anymore, they wan't to release wild predator's such as reintroduced non native lynx and wolves and have already released beavers (beavers are an exception in as they can be good for the landscape - if not the tree's - as they control water with there dam's and created ideal environment's for other wetland species to share with them, of course they can also be disastrous).

Remember Hitler and his lunatic's wanted to re-create the Orax and after wiping out large part's of eastern europe they intended to create a vast nature reserve to be populated by these Orax for german youth's to hunt with spear's in manhood rituals.

I have a ton of pork recipes if you want. Roast pork tenderloin, pulled pork barbecue, slow roasted pork picnic with crackling skin.

a reply to: Raggedyman

Or wolves. They had to reintroduce them in the American west when deer populations get too large.
Europe used to have a wolf population.
Until that chick with the red cape started complaining.
Area wise I don't know if Europe could sustain a wolf population without encroaching human habitats.

a reply to: Sillyolme

There are still wild wolves in Poland, Russia and of course many other area's within western europe, most of these sub group's and sub species are however today endangered.

There is a huge forest in Poland and of course the Arden forest also may still have some wolves.

Scandinavia definitely has plenty of Wolves.

The European bear though is much more endangered and indeed extinct in most area's except for Scandinavia.

And of course Spain still has wolve's, a distinct sub group with some trait's that set it apart from it's more northerly cousin's.
www.iberianature.com...
There are I believe maybe still some in Greece as well and of course there are many mountainous regions in Europe, the balkan's for example were there is a vast national park and in that park there are also wolves and bears (most european bear's are a lot smaller than there Canadian/American cousin's due to hunting etc though they are very close relative's and can interbreed with no problem's in there offspring).

Idiots. City people who are too far removed from the woods, the fields, and the farms with their idiotic "nature engineering" policies. They want to be able to have their own safari they can go but not live or work in.

Reminds me of a vote in michigan to allow wolf hunting for number control as they do cause damage. The Upper peninsula(3% of population, 29% of land) was for it while the lower peninsula was against it . Guess where the wolves live.

a reply to: LABTECH767

We can spare a couple of Kodiacs if you want them...

As others in the US have mentioned, great idea if you like destructive wild life. In Texas the battle goes on. It does make for some hunting opportunities. No closed season, no bag limit.

originally posted by: LABTECH767
a reply to: Kester



Remember Hitler and his lunatic's wanted to re-create the Orax and after wiping out large part's of eastern europe they intended to create a vast nature reserve to be populated by these Orax for german youth's to hunt with spear's in manhood rituals.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

discussion of Aurochs (and Taurus)

does anyone know if wild bison still exist in Europe?

a reply to: ElGoobero

They could be contained. I can confirm they are not being contained. They could be trapped in large numbers in the winter, but it isn't going to be done. Apart from anything else there would be a huge influx of professional protestors sabotaging a major cull.

a reply to: LABTECH767

Thanks for the lesson.!🍻
So the area with the pigs are within range of these predators? That should balance things up a bit.

I love Texas BBQed wild HOG with lone star beer.

With so little hunting in Britain with there gun laws the wild hogs would take over the country.

We're already overrun with feral kids, now they want to breed feral pigs.

Jesus, what's happening?

a reply to: ANNED

There is a lot of hunting here, and plenty of guns.

According to this article.

About 6,000 tons of lead are fired from shotguns and rifles every year . . .

www.independent.co.uk...

There must be pressure from high up to allow the feral pig population to increase. If the pressure was for control the pigs would soon be reduced in numbers.

a reply to: Kester

Not all of the protesters would be from outside. I live in the FoD and I would object, as many of my neighbours would, to a large scale culling. This problem was caused by the forestry commission when they stepped in and stopped the foresters from managing the numbers. Back then there were little or no problems and the numbers killed each year were few but enough to manage the population. This problem has been manufactured.

If the numbers have to be reduced then capturing and releasing elsewhere in a large enclosure would be my preference.

Personally I love seeing them in the forest (unless I have my dogs with me as they are lurchers and hunt everything!) ...

Oh and you said there will be incidents of boar fighting back, there already has. Usually on over zealous dogs.