Support the Call for a Closed Season on Hunting Boar

The Provision of Seasonal Protection for Wild Boar in the UK

Responsible department: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

"The Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) was a native species of the UK until extinction through loss of habitat and conflict with man. The wild boar has now though escapes and deliberate releases become free living in many areas of the UK such as the Forest of Dean where they have flourished. These are highly intelligent timid animals that are often misunderstood. This controversial species needs specific legislation to protect breeding females during the times of the year when they give birth and have dependent young who rely on the mother. Now hunted as a ‘game’ animal with commercial value this species deserves the same seasonal protection given to other game animals including deer, wildfowl and game birds to prevent suffering when females are shot and dependant young are left to starve to death. This petition seeks the provision of a closed season to protect breeding females and their young as is in place throughout Europe for this species."

Please sign this petition at: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/13423, and circulate to friends and family.

Friends of the Boar was contacted by Paul Adkins, who started this petition when he realised the situation with wild boar "management" arising in Southern Scotland is the same in The Forest of Dean, namely uncontrolled, unscientific culling as is outlined in the recent Guardian article (link in previous blog).

It is apparent that the current culling regime is more like hunting without rules, rather than sound game management.

A closed season would allow the population dynamics to recover, herd immunity to improve, and of course a chance for tourists and wildlife lovers a chance to see the wild boar in British woodland.  Peristent persecution by year-round killing not only stresses these intelligent animals, but may make them feel threatened in the presence of human scent.  A closed-season is of the utmost urgency.  Please sign it.

Part of the whole problem here lies with the Government's (Defra) reluctance to drop the "feral" status of the wild boar.  The feral label allows hunting by landowners, farmers and private game shoots without the usual protections afforded to wild animals under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981).  Feral animals tend to be treated as sport and something fun and irrelevent to kill.  The boars are only legally protected from cruelty - which is something that cannot obviously be policed where carried out on private land.  Is it co-accident that the Government are looking into scrapping the Wildlife and Countryside Act very soon?

Wild Boar Culling is a Guess admit the Forestry Commission

After some effort by Friends of the Boar to get the Guardian newspaper to run a story about the dangerous mismanagement of the wild boar by the Forestry Commission, it has finally been published today.  Follow this link to see the online version:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/01/wild-boar-cull

The Guardian promise us they will do a follow up piece if they get enough interest via online comments or letters, so please let your views be known.

The article is unanimous that previous culling and management has been based upon guesswork.  But the article only concludes there is a danger of extinction - once again!

We claim this has been dangerous mismanagement with more serious implications.

The culling started in 2008, and was a knee-jerk reaction by the Forestry Commission after calls of "something must be done" by the District Council acting on behalf of farmers and concerned public who had digested and believed in the many "scare" stories in the local press.  Due to lack of any previous research or prior knowledge of wild boar ecology and movements,the cull was almost forced upon the FC and therefore, they had to go at it blind.

But lately, fears of over-culling from people like "Friends of the Boar" have been ignored.  Wild Boar sightings have plummeted over the past 2 years, and even the FC admit it is difficult to find them to kill! But paradoxically, the FC have increased their estimates of a cull target!  They have reacted in total opposition to what seems appropriate to many people, including us.  The FC based increasing cull targets upon fears of a population explosion of the boar - which was basically based upon increased road verge diggings - a totally unscientific and ridiculous method of census or population-change for many reasons.

We worry that over-culling will lead to huge problems in Wild Boar health not least the actual promotion of a population explosion as the wild boar attempt to re-fill the natural carrying capacity of the forest (an explosion that the FC will counter by more killing - and so the problem snowballs...a hunter's dream!).

It has been shown many times that culling badgers has always led to more Tb outbreaks.  This is due to several factors, not least the stress an individual badger may be subjected to, thus lowering its immunity.

Boar are the same.  Immunity is encouraged throughout the "herd" by cross suckling piglets and mothers, and also by some older boar being low-dose carriers of certain viruses and bacteria.  These carriers are nature's natural vaccinations.  Kill these older animals and the vaccination (or naturally aquired immunity) disappears, leaving a population more susceptible to disease.

Tb exists in the soil all the time.  It does not fall from the sky or appear magically from nowhere.  When immunity is lowered by stress or poor cull management, Tb can begin to infect individuals that had up until then immunity to it.  Intensive farming of cows is stressful for the cow - hence their susceptibility to Tb.  Brutal killing of badger families is the same, and again for intelligent creatures like wild boar.

And what is on the cards for the badgers?  A huge cull and population crash!

We need to state the obvious here, and ask that our views are lobbied to MPs, the FC and the press.  It is up to you.

DJS

Friends of the Boar

Welcome to Friends of the Boar

This blog is hopefully going to become an online source of information about the Wild Boar in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, and sometimes elsewhere as well.

It has been created to help inform and educate the public about the boars here.

We are not an Animal Rights group although we often have sympathy which such groups.  Rather, we use science together with observation and reasoned argument to deliver our argument and opinion.

We do not preach nor intimidate anyone who has an opposing viewpoint.  This is our strength and we will do our very best to keep on this track.

We are a group that hope to grow stronger in the coming years and become a respected voice in support of the wild boar.  We believe the boar are the start perhaps, of a counterweight to a mindset who are persuaded more by profit than peaceful coexistence with all our native wildlife.

The boar, if accepted, will hopefully pave the way for other long lost species re-introductions into the UK fauna.

Ours is a group created in response to many years of poor, and at times inaccurate tales of the wild boar in the media which has spread throughout a misinformed public at large.

We hope to highlight what the wild boar can represent.  But most of all we want to be a pressure group that can promote the wild boar in a positive way and also an objective way, and as such we will constructively criticise any authority or group who appear to be endangering the boars, their existence and their health.

Wild Boar can sometimes be dangerous or troublesome.  We do not want to hide from these facts.  We do not want to be rigidly against management or culling of the boar.  But we do want a balanced and sensible approach to being able to once again live side by side with the new wild arrivals to our forests.

If you are already a friend of the boar, please let us know so that we can add you to our list of supporters.  We hope to keep you informed of things happening locally in the Forest of Dean, and maybe beyond, by email.  We need your input as we hope to be as democratic as possible in any of our future actions.

Thanks in advance of your support.