Wild Boar (Sus scrofa scrofa) |
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BackgroundWild Boar have a thick bristly coat with underlying
brown pelage. Coat colour is brown, red-brown, dark grey or black. A ridge
of longer hair grows along the spine. Piglets have characteristic light
brown and cream coloured longitudinal stripes. Adults undergo a seasonal
moult in June and August. Adult body shape shows a large head and shoulders
tapering to smaller hindquarters. The body weight lies forward. The snout
is long, narrow and straight and the ears are small and erect. The tail
is straight with long tassels. Males can weigh up to 200kg and after 2
years of age grow tusks from both the upper and lower canines curving upwards.
Females do not grow tusks, and are generally smaller, weighing up to 130kg.
The maximum height reached for both sexes is about 1 metre.
Wild boar are omnivorous and will consume a large
variety of food items. Typically, plant material accounts for 90% of their
diet and animal matter the remaining 10%. Plant matter consists of roots,
bulbs and tubers (unearthed by rooting with their long snouts) and fruit
and berries. Animal matter can consist of mice, birds’ eggs, snakes, lizards,
worms, beetles and centipedes and carrion. The diet changes to accommodate
seasonally available items and forest fruits (for example, acorns, beech
mast, chestnuts, olives) are particularly important in the autumn as these
protein rich foods enable the sows to be in peak breeding condition. In
times of shortage, agricultural crops may be raided, particularly fields
of maize, turnips and potatoes.
History of Wild Boar in the UKOnce widespread in
the wildwoods of Britain, the wild boar had become extinct by the 17 th
century due to loss of its forest home and medieval sport hunting. In recent
years, these heavy, powerful animals have been reared in special farms
for their meat. It is also important to note that wild boar can be an important
prey for larger predators such as wolf and lynx.
Accidental Reintroduction to the UKDuring the great storms of 1987, a small number
of boar escaped! Finding themselves in perfect porcine habitat, wild boar
have established breeding populations in woodlands in Dorset, Sussex and
Kent - and they are spreading!
On the 21st October 1998 DEFRA (then known as MAFF) issued a News Release concerning the results of their study on wild boar living free in Britain. The study confirmed the presence of two populations of wild boar living in Britain. DEFRA acknowledges that ‘wild boar can impact on many areas, particularly agriculture, animal health, conservation and public safety’. They cause agricultural damage, have the potential to pass on disease to domestic livestock and can be dangerous if cornered. On the other hand they were a native species and an integral part of the ecology of the woodland. Their rooting activities mix soil nutrients and increase the diversity of plant species, which in turn benefits the insects that rely on the plants and so on up the food chain. |
 Wild Boar |
