CULL ENDS but does the KILLING?

The Forestry Commission have just announced that they have ceased their cull of wild boar having achieved their target of 100 animals.

Although still to be confirmed, we believe that rangers killed about 75 animals, with another 25 or so succumbing to road traffic accidents since the cull started back in September 2012.

We are happy to see that road casualties are now being taken into consideration by the Forestry Commission.  This is a positive move forwards in the management and conservation of wild boar.  Up until now boar casualties have never been considered in the cull undertaken by the Forestry Commission, and neither has boar killed by poaching, legal shooting or moving out of the forest.

It has been a past criticism of the Forestry Commission that the failure to take account of boar disappearing by other means was promoted by the income stream that the FC are gaining from sale of boar meat.  It may  interest people that road casualties are not sold for meat.  So this is hopefully a sign of improvement in managing the boar.

Furthermore, boar sightings have been way down since last September when culling was resumed, but rather than worry about numbers of boar falling to unsustainable levels, the small degree of grass diggings lends support that the boar are in no danger of eradication, but certainly depleted in numbers as we come up to the main birthing season.

Since the cull began back in September, there has been an almost continual furore here about wild boar invading farms and villages.  Boar behaviour is such that they prefer to group together before leaving the safety of the Forest in search of new territory, so reports have tended to be of boar numbering up to 30 at a time.  This of course distorts public perception of boar numbers in the Forest.  Little do people realise that only a few groups of boar (2 or 3) leave the Forest each year, but when they do, they leave in largish numbers.  Nor do they always leave immediately and forever, but may go back to the Forest if they sense danger.




Farmland dug by several Wild Boar in October 2012. 
This farm borders the Forest of Dean and is evidence that wild boar do leave the Forest each year.


Friends of the Boar can corroborate some of the reports of boar in farmland.  These reports of course are firm evidence that boar do leave the Forest and should be taken into account in a scientifically defensible management plan.

What is slightly worrying to us is the huge increase in road casualties in just 4 months (October - January).  Research in the US indicates deer casualties rise during culling seasons due to panicking animals being pursued or shot at.  We cannot confirm this here because only a single closed season as occured.  We await further information to arrive at a reason for rises in road casualties. 

Other factors that increase road casualties may be orphaned piglets having no road sense.  This has been  previously blogged here, and may still be valid.  Other reasons may be when entire sounders with little piglets cross roads and casualties are numerous in single incidents with lorries for example, and even half-dissected carcasses being thrown from poachers' vehicles may also be considered.

In December 2012, Friends of the Boar received information and photographs of a boar shoot in the Forest of Dean.  Details are still being sought, and we cannot at the moment say if this shoot was legal or not and must assume that it was legal.  But we post the photos here for your perusal if only to highlight the entirely distasteful and disgusting way that some hunters see our wild boar as trophies to be propped up and teeth ripped out for its bragging value.

We appreciate these may be shocking images, but it is important that people know what is taking place in their public Forest and near their homes.  At the moment we do not believe people are informed enough about the shocking reality and image of boar hunting.


(Photographs of hunted male boar used under Fair Use doctrine for critique and discussion)

Anyone with comments please do leave them for all to see, or get in touch with us via e-mail which you can find in the side-bar under Contact.

Look out for the next posting, which will follow unusually quickly, so we can bring you up to date on what we have been doing to help local residents with boar rooting in gardens.

We also urgently need to tell you what has happened over Christmas regarding Friends of the Boar itself.  We may need your support more than ever if we are to continue.

We also want to present evidence about the genetic purity of wild boar here in the Forest of Dean.

Take Care everyone and come back very soon,


DJS

REJOICE THE FIRST CLOSED SEASON (- and ignore what you read in the press)

We have been very busy here at Friends of the Boar since culling was resumed.  We have felt it necessary to attempt to answer lots of queries and press articles that appear to be focused upon one topic only - BOAR DIGGINGS.

In the years leading up to the formation of Friends of the Boar, a few passionate wildlife enthusiasts and photographers who had first-hand experience of the boar were kept busy attempting to allay public fears of how dangerous the boar are.  The press, as always, were siding with the authoritarian view of the Forestry Commission, presenting stories of dog attacks as if they were commonplace, fretful of boar attacking children, and of boar numbers becoming so high there would be no space for humans.

Thankfully, after a lot of patience and education, not to mention the fact that maybe 50% of local residents have now experienced the boar at close quarters, these fears have faded.  People are now resentful at being duped with front page stories of hogzillas and the promoted image of the boar by the fake experts, namely the Forestry Commission.

Many locals seriously believed that boar looked something like the Looney Toons character "Taz the Tasmanian Devil", a muscular tusked hairy beast that delights in unprovoked frenzied charges at everything in his path!

"TAZ" is NOT a WILD BOAR!

Almost universally included within the press stories of boar diggings in the last month is the totally illogical connection that they are somehow correlated with boar numbers. 

Ian Harvey, head ranger of the local FC, as been quoted several times linking increasing levels of roadside verge activity to increasing numbers of boar (2009-2010).  At one point his conditioned mantra seemed to be the only census technique he was capable of....although some people would still say it is!

This is typical rhetoric of those who delight in hunting the boar.  Time and again we hear the same old nonsense from hunters, including the Forestry Commission, that boar have no predators and will over-run the place with a compounded trebling of numbers each year, and of course digging up everything in sight. 

Loaded language is almost second nature to these conditioned individuals, who no doubt got their lessons in ecology from their hunting daddies and mummies:  phrases like "rampaging boar", "devastation", "fury", "invasion", roll from their tongues at the slightest bit of grass damage found by residents.

Since the infamous release of boar in 2004, wildlife enthusiasts had been using the diggings to find the boar.  Noting their positions daily, using new diggings to start searches for the boar.  Roadsides have been continuously monitored as part of their hobby, and in some cases their professions.

They can confirm that road diggings are massively down compared to the last 3 years (2009), thanks to the closed-season.  Before that, boar numbers were so low (20-100) that road diggings were less conspicuous.

We have just had a YEAR-LONG closed season when no boar were hunted except a small number of road casualities.  The closed-season began in September 2011, and the following 2 months saw the usual road verge diggings taking place.




For the first time since 2007, little piglets have not been hunted or their mothers shot by the Forestry Commission.

 

 

Residents will hopefully remember the long stretches of roadside down the Cannop Valley, along the Speech House to New Fancy View road, and down into Parkend and onwards into Coleford being an almost continuous "dig".  Speech House road between Coleford and Cinderford, similarly had a lot of road diggings for all to see.  Picnic sites at Wenchford, Beechenhurst, Linear Park, Mallards Pike and Cannop had all been severely dug.

Remember - this was when the Forest had the Beechenhurst Six roaming about the centre of the Forest, a family of tame boar and piglets we have previously blogged about.  This family were digging at Beechenhurst and around Speech House for all to see, and it was the threat that the FC had announced they were to kill these boar that added to the protests and the decision to have a year-long stop on killing the boar.

Another sow with her family relaxing in the heart of the Forest of Dean.



So the bloodsport halted.  The FC were confident of uproar by the public (witnessed at a meeting between the Friends, Councillors and Kevin Stannard of the FC), and hunters began writing to the nationals warning of a Berlin style onslaught of boar raiding towns.

BUT NOTHING HAPPENED.

THE CLOSED SEASON was a resounding SUCCESS.  By the new year, roadside grass activity had almost completely disappeared.  The boar left the villages of Parkend and elsewhere.  An environment of peace and relaxation took over.  The boar moved back into the deeper parts of the Forest where high seats stood empty as reminders of the past. 

THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD BE.

The Forestry Commission were putting the population at 450 animals at the start of the closed-season (September 2011).  They predicted, that the population would TREBLE.  By September 2012 when they will resume culing, that means 1,350 boar will be here.

By contrast, we were claiming only 100 boar were present in the Forest of Dean at the start of the closed-season.  This met the usual tuts and sneers from those who think they know best.  We predicted the population would stabilise according to the studies from European boar that give densities of 3-4 boar per square km.  In terms of the Forest of Dean, this would equate to 180 - 240 boar provided no artificial feeding took place.

Censuses were done by both the FC and Friends of the Boar as previously outlined in this blog.  The FC census concluded a population as of August 30th 2012 at 600.  The Freinds census put it at 200.

NOW NOTE.  The FC had just reduced the population from 1,350 to 600 (more than a halving)!  The Friends had increased the population from 100 to 200 (a doubling).

No shooting for full year!

ASK:  WHO HAS THE MATHS RIGHT?

What are we now seeing and hearing?   Well, the FC now suddenly begin claiming that boar numbers only double each year! 

REALLY!  Don't you mean a decrease of 56% per year, or are you just taking our figures now, hoping nobody notices?  This statement was provided both by Kevin Stannard in a recent press piece, and by Robin Gill, Forest research scientist at the Boar Scrutiny Meeting in August 2012 (also documented below on this blog).  Talk about changing goalposts, and in the face of their own contrary predictions!

We really feel sad to keep highlighting the apparent cluelessness and hypocricy of the local government here residing at the Forestry Commission in Bank House in Coleford, but we can only report honestly as this is our way (remember that we are not-for-profit).

On the ground we saw almost an ENTIRE YEAR of NO ROAD DIGGING.  From around January - August 2012, the roadsides were free of overturned soil.  The Cannop Valley, for the first time in 7 years, was free of soil.  Soudley, Parkend, Whitecroft, Ruardean, Sling, all villages traditionally dug, were now free of dirt!  Visitors to picnic sites would be hard pressed to find a single hoof print of a boar.

THE BOAR WERE NOW WHERE THEY BELONG - IN THE DEEPER PARTS OF THE FOREST.

Sightings collected by the Friends were showing conclusively that the boar poulation may have reached 400 in April, but had declined to 200 by August.  A 50% mortality seems to have occurred - all without the presence of wolves or guns!!!!   The Friends' estimates at the start of the closed season of 200 were vindicated, albeit by our own census (we understand how critics may ignore this).

But hunting resumed in the first week of September 2012.  Immediately a single boar came into Coleford town centre.  "Fury as Boar Run Amok in Town centre" was plastered everywhere by The Forester newspaper.  The loaded language had resumed by the press and hunting fraternity!

Boar came into villages almost overnight.  Sling and Ruardaen were hit, as was Soudley and Blakeney.  And what did we learn?

THE BOAR WERE NOW BEING HUNTED DEEP IN THE FOREST BY THE FORESTRY COMMISSION!

Oh yes, hunting at baited places in the remoter parts to make the cull easier!  Alternatively, some rangers feel free to shoot on-sight any boar they stumble across in broad daylight on public land, as they did near to Speech House that first week of the cull, much to the shock of a very fightened tourist nearby.  Thankfully, a Friends of the Boar supporter was there to help them return to their car, visibly shaken.

When challenged by the Friends in an open letter to Ian Harvey, the FC claimed (via the press) they do not kill nuisance boar by villages due to health and safety!  WOW, it's now ok to shoot in the daytime in the Forest near Speech House with many visitors nearby, but shooting near villages to help farmers and villagers is a no-no!

GO READ - the FC have  always said, including in their OWN Boar Management Strategy (see link to this on main page), that problem boar will be prioritised in any cull.

No mention in the press of how the FC had got their sums wrong.  No mention of how we had just witnessed a quiet year with regard to boar diggings.  ALL FORGOTTEN by those who wish to profit from the boar by either hunting or the selling of local newspapers. 

The Forester and especially The Review newspapers (both owned by Sir Ray Tindle of Tindle newspapers) delighted in presenting unrepresentative and very rare and localised stories of people upset at some digging by their houses or in their gardens, as though the Forest was entirley dug to bits!

The Forester and Review both published highly misleading stories and letters from anonymous writers, with editors getting in on the act in an attempt to dismiss and mock our efforts to promote truth and promotion of wildlife.  Letters sent by us were ignored or delayed by weeks to appear ineffective and random.  Press releases announcing our intentions to help those with diggings on private land were also ignored.  This would obviously negate the hatred these two Tindle newspapers were fostering, and so decided to ignore us on purpose.

Without any investigation into the truth or validity of their correspondence, these papers quoted residents saying that boar numbers were too high and out of control.  Anonymous opinions were published without question to fuel an agenda.  Not once did they ask us to comment.  Because if they did, this type of scaremongering and last ditch attempt at getting the public to support hunting would be a failure.  They have tried their very best to present UTTER RUBBISH in order to get people here angry.  To us the Forester and Review Newspapers have acted not only immorally and unfairly but maliciously towards the boar and to those who support them. 

We only hope they will apologise and make every attempt to tell the opposite view and also to present veryfiable facts about the boar.

One of these FACTS is that WE SHOULD REJOICE THE SUCCESS OF THE FIRST WILD BOAR CLOSED SEASON IN THE UK, for it alleviated ALL that people fear, from attacks upon dogs and people to roadside grass damage.

HOORAY THE BOAR!

Thank You Mrs Boar for your efforts to make the Forest of Dean and all UK woodland a pleasure to visit.

(Apologies if some of you sense frustration, but the fight to spread truth for wildlife is a hard one here in the Forest of Dean, with much zoophobia amongst residents and some entrenched habits of poaching and wanting the forest to look like a country park.  All with little reward. Please help out if you can by contacting us.)

For researchers who wish to investigate the substance of this article, with some press examples, please contact David Slater via this blog - go to contact.


Can we please urge all residents to submit sightings of the boar via our contact page (in the side panel).  The data we receive is strictly confidential and will never be seen by any hunters.

DJS

FORESTRY COMMISSION VETOES DEMOCRACY WITH INDEFENSIBLE ACTION

It is with regret that FotB have to announce that the Forestry Commission (FC) has once again ignored our estimation of boar numbers in the Forest of Dean, but have instead chosen to cull 100 animals between September 2012 and January 2013.  They unequivocally reject any debate, carrying out their own unfounded beliefs of what should be done.

Population?

We say 200 boar are present, they claim 600-650.  A cull of 100 in such a rapid way may be again disastrous with respect to the future existence of boar, their health, compensatory rebound effect and amenity grass damage.  We will no doubt return to the conditions of 2009 when we witnessed a huge spurt in piglet numbers, increasing numbers of tame boar and widespread overturning of road verges and picnic sites.

Methodology

For your information, the FC has used the same method as us in arriving at population estimates: the FC used just 3 rangers and an anonymous independent; we used over 100 local residents including naturalists and wildlife photographers. Both surveys were carried out over the summer.

The FC alleges 150 “sightings” this summer and plotted them on a map.  We were shown this map at the recent Boar Scrutiny Meeting (more later), and it clearly had many duplicate sightings of the same boar groups.  In fact, no other details of how these sightings were logged were given.  As far as we know, the FC logs fresh diggings to count as a sighting? Whatever, we just knew the FC would come up with some ridiculously high figure, because this is what they have always done to scare the public and justify bloodshed.

Boar Scrutiny Meeting to Decide Future Management

We learned of the FC estimate at the recent Boar Scrutiny Meeting.  This was chaired by Verderer Ian Standing in late August 2012, and was the result of a year-long effort to get a wider view of boar and their management officially heard, with a view to take any findings to the Council.  The Council are now to decide on a new limit to numbers of boar allowed to live in the Forest, and for the management process to be more transparent and democratically led (still to be done). 

The meeting involved two FC employees, Dr Martin Goulding of the British Wild Boar organisation, and Dr David J Slater of FotB (please contact via the side panel).  All other interested parties were declined a hearing at the last minute by Ian Standing.

The meeting concluded that boar numbers were unknown, and it was recommended to wait until the next census before making any decisions on a cull.  The FC, using inadequate explanations of why last year's thermal imaging census did not provide them with the number of boar they were expecting, could only offer a better standard of thermal imaging equipment for the year ahead! 

Dictatorship

So we are even more incensed at the news of a cull, because the FC was knee-jerk in dishonouring the recommendations of the meeting – it was not supportive of the cull they so desperately need / want.

And will they stop at 100?   The FC has pushed this year to increase the previous acceptable number of boar in the Forest of Dean from 90 to 400. This may seem like a victory and in one sense it is, but to reduce their 650 imaginary boars down to 400 means that up to 250 animals may die! 

This of course is more than FotB are claiming to exist!  It is now clear that the FC has called for an increase in the Forest population because they wish to argue that more boars will be born and therefore come under their gun sights.

Breach of Contract?

Coincidentally, this cull target would satisfy the legal agreements the FC has with meat dealers.  At least three contracts existed up to October 2011 that obligated the FC to provide each with 500kg of boar meat. 

Now, we know that the FC sells piglets directly due to direct admissions they gave us.  Since 2008 when the FC began to shoot boar, we know from the FC’s own figures that 77% of their cull has been piglets in the past.   So, a cull of 100 boar would comprise 77 piglets plus 23 adults at an average of 65kg each (a typical adult weight) - or 3 contracts of 500kg each (23 x 65kg = 1,500kg).

Too coincidental we think.

Institutional Arrogance

 

At the Council meeting last September (2011) when the FC agreed to stop culling for a year, the FC claimed that after their cull of 153 animals, 450 boar were still at large (hence their arrogance with the prediction of high number counts in their subsequent census).   So this amounted to an estimate of 650 animals for late 2011.

 

 

Red-Faced

The FC duly conducted a nighttime census programme in November and December (2011) to try and achieve a more accurate number of boar in the area. Using high-tech equipment such as infra red and thermal imaging scopes they were confident that they would prove there were hundreds of boar in the Forest of Dean. However, after two months of conducting these surveys with independent witness, including FotB, they shelved it. Why? Because they only found a tiny handful of boar and were left red-faced. The only excuse they gave was bracken got in the way – in the winter! Now correct us if we are wrong, but isn't this same equipment used by the Military and Police to catch terrorists and criminals?

Indefensible Reasoning for Cull

Their current number of 650 boar conclusively means that they claim the population of boar in the Forest has not increased since the last cull.  They also tell us that complaints are very much down, and everyone can see that grass damage has also been hugely decreased in the year that no killing took place (Sept 2011 – Sept 2012).  In other words, the situation has improved on all counts as a direct result of no culling for a year - just as FotB has persistently predicted. 

So why cull 100?  What possible reason can they have to kill animals that are receiving less and less complaints and are increasingly leaving the grass alone?

Real Population Dynamics

Here’s our population dynamic analysis:

FotB estimated at the meeting of Sept 2011 that there were approximately 100 boar present in the Forest of Dean – at the start of the year-long closed-season. (The FC claimed 450).

A sow gives birth to 6 young per-year on average (in the wild) and based on a figure of 100 animals with an optimistic 50 being sexually mature sows, we would get 400 animals by the following Spring.

However, piglet mortality is high, maybe 50% in some years, but taking an average of 4 young making it to adulthood per sow this gives us a total number of 300 boar for summer 2012.

At the end of each summer when all the piglets are now independent, there is always a migration of boar out of the Forest.  This is due to family groups breaking up to find new territory, and the number leaving the Forest is dictated by food supply and shelter.

Studies have long shown that at our latitude and climate, Forests will not support more than 4 boar per square kilometre, more usually 3.  At 60 square kilometres in aerial extent, our Forest will only support 180-240 boar.

 

Always the Minority that Spoils the Peace?

So this year, we expect around 100 boars to leave the Forest and wander onto private land around the Forest.  These boar are always those that get the bad press each year as they move into urban areas, promoting poaching and lawful killing by landowners.

We therefore predicted 200 wild boar would be in the Forest this Autumn and it is very gratifying when our census, where 100 or more people have been out and about sending us their sightings, also corroborates this number.

So as you hopefully agree, if the FC takes out 100 animals from the Forest over the next 4 months, we will be left with, at most 150.  And this is before anyone takes into account further natural deaths, poaching and RTA's.  Research indicates that boar populations need to be much higher than this to be sustainable and to eliminate the danger of inbreeding.

Petition

Friends of the Boar have set up an e-petition to stop this cull. It may be too late, as we had no warning of the cull, which is happening right now, but if we can show them that united, we are prepared to stand up for these remarkable animals it could prevent future culls, which have not been based on scientific estimations. To control wildlife numbers that have reached a point of concern can sometimes be deemed as wildlife conservation/management. However, to cull a species when its numbers cannot be proven and when there is no concern, it is murder!

Please help give our wild boars a reprieve by signing the petition today. Please also share this petition with other wildlife groups and on your Facebook/Twitter pages. Many thanks!

https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/38945 

    

Poaching on the Increase

Since the news of the FC starting culling, and their exaggerated claims of 650 boar at large, it seems that the poachers and vigilante landowners are scurrying about the Forest and surrounding land with guns.  We have been made aware of several incidents of poaching and of boys with guns roaming the public highway at night.  Rest assured we give the Police as much information as possible whenever we are contacted by the rightfully alarmed public.

FotB were recently offered the lower jaw bone of a boar, which was found in the forest by a member of the public (sign up to our newsletter to see it). There are many reasons why this animal died in our forest and one may have been from natural causes. Other causes may be from a poacher’s poor shot, leaving the animal injured to die slowly in the forest. It may also have been injured in an RTA where it was able to make it back into the forest where again it died. Who knows how this animal perished, but this proves that these animals do indeed die in our forest and that culling should only be considered as a last resort.

Badger Cull

Finally, the plight of the wild boar and the peace of the Forest are to be shattered even further this Autumn and Winter by the Badger cull.

West Gloucestershire, including land around the Forest of Dean is part of a disgusting experiment by our government to see if farmers and employed marksmen can kill badgers at night.  This is obviously taken up at length in the mainstream press and by action groups such as Gloucestershire Against Badger Shooting (GABS) and Brian May’s Team Badger.

What we are afraid of is that as the badger population is stressed beyond all reason they will obviously flee to the Forest as cover.  Injured and potentially unhealthy badgers will begin to disrupt badger territories within the Forest.  Any badgers with bTb (and these will be the badgers that survive the shooting – only the healthy badgers will roam about at night!) may begin to affect both the health of our existing badgers and the boar.  Obviously, the coincidence of killing boar and badgers could very easily lead to an extremely dark future for all our wildlife.

This is yet another coincidence of our government (the FC is a front organisation of DEFRA) acting in a totally indefensible and unscientific way that is truly detrimental to wildlife, and eventually to humans in due course.

Please give your support to halt the badger cull and to ask any landowners you know to say no to killing on their land.

The team would like to thank you all for your continued support for Friends of the Boar and for this remarkable animal.