Some Pretty Hairy Comments!!!

Below is a link to a recent article in the Citizen Newspaper on wild boar numbers and diggings in the Forest of Dean, with some hair raising comments from a local Councillor!

The below is from a personal perspective only. I will not make assumptions on population numbers as this will only be pure speculation until we have a more accurate estimate in a few months time.

However, I would like to address some of the comments made by Councillor Norman Stephens.

Mr. Stephens says..... 

"A lot of people I speak to are sick and tired of the boar."
Is this a good enough reason to kill wildlife, or ask for it to be killed?

"They turfed up the ground around the Forest Church War Memorial just before Remembrance Day." 
Unfortunately Mr. Stephens, wild animals treat every day the same as the previous, but I am sure that if they did know this they would have indeed shown some respect like us.

"The mess at Beechenhurst is deplorable."
Again, unfortunately they do not look on this area in the same way we do. In fact, as food is eaten at this location daily, they see it as an opportunity and as a source for food.
To them, this "is" the heart of the forest, where they belong.

"Road verges have been wrecked."
The forest has seen a low natural crop of acorns and chestnuts this last season and to survive, like all living creatures the boar have to eat. One reason why they root road verges is because the verges are soft, which makes life easy for them. Is dirt on the side of the road any worse than the huge slab of tarmac snaking for miles throughout the area?
Wild boar are a native species and like it or not they helped sculpt the landscape we see today, many years ago.
Wild boar diggings might look unsightly to some, but the reality is that this activity actually revitalises and regenerates the forest.


Mr. Stephens has asked for the boar to be contained in a secure enclosure within the forest.
Really? And how big should this be; 1, 2, 3, 4 square miles, or more?
Even if this was possible, they would require feeding on a daily basis as their territory would be limited.
Male wild boar would have to be penned in a separate enclosure while the sows weaned their young.
A breach in the fence would see them escape, so this would also need to be monitored on a daily basis.

And finally, the Forest of Dean is not a zoo.

Citizen article HERE


One day, hopefully, we may learn to respect the fact that just because we walk on this planet, it doesn't mean we own it. 
We but only share this earth with billions of other living creatures and what we think and see as right, is actually destroying it.

Wild Boar Sow in the Forest of Dean

A wild boar piglet, learning how to find food

Rob

Horrific Discovery in the Forest

What you are about to see is graphic 

so please be 

WARNED!

On Sunday 24th March, along with my friend and co-founder of UKWBT, Scott Passmore, we took a film crew into the Forest of Dean on the trail of wild boar for an upcoming documentary on this species.

I knew where there were a few sows with piglets and after circling the area for signs we headed into a dense part of the forest, where I knew they would be.
What we found was shocking and horrific!

A wild boar was lying at the bottom of a small tree and as we approached, we were greeted with a sight that sent my emotions over the edge. The poor animal was dead, but what was shocking was that it was missing its head!
My first concern was for the piglets, as they are still dependant on the sows milk. However, I soon realised that this was a male boar, not a sow and even though the sight was gruesome  I was relieved that the piglets hadn't lost their mum and their milk.

The male boar had a open gash to the belly area, exposing his internal organs and the head had been cleanly removed with a very sharp instrument. Probably a machete.

Our first thought was that this fella had been poached and decapitated, but on closer inspection we could not find a gunshot wound anywhere on the body, so this would mean that to drop an animal of this size, it would have been a shot to the head, if indeed he had been shot.
We were then puzzled as to why the head was nowhere to be seen, yet the body with a belly wound had been left. Surely if this animal was poached, the people responsible would have taken the meat?
If they had been disturbed or chased off by other boar, why did they struggle with just the head and for what purpose?

Wild boar sows will not tolerate male boar when they have young as male boar will kill piglets if they are not his, so that he can mate with the sow to keep his own bloodline going.
We came to the conclusion that this male entered the sows territory and with young this caused the sows to attack him, slicing his belly in the process. This wound would have been severe enough to kill him and this is what probably happened.
As for the head, many people walk the forest searching for boar and if someone came across this chap and decided the scull, complete with tusks would make a nice trophy, it wouldn't have taken long to return with a machete and remove the head.

The boar had been dead for a while when the head was removed as there was no blood on the ground around the neck area. Also, the exposed meat in the neck area was fresh and had no odour, yet the open wound on the belly was rotting and smelled awful.

Shocking as it is, at least this lad will now help other wildlife in the area as he is now a source of food for birds of prey and foxes etc.

Of course we could be completely wrong as this lad may have been shot in the head with the offender then going to work removing his head. Poachers usually butcher in the forest as it is easier to get the meat out, rather than drag a 150lb+ carcass out.
If this was the work of a poacher and he was startled or disturbed, he may have left the area to return later.
It wouldn't take long for the meat to spoil and he may have opened the belly on his return only to discover this. Leaving what we found?

Your thoughts are welcome?

PLEASE DO NOT SCROLL DOWN IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH 

Were were greeted with this!

Belly wound. Fight, or a knife? 

Cleanly cut and obviously made by a human!

Rob

Wild Boar Cull Starting in Forest of Dean

In September 2011 the Forestry Commission agreed to suspend the cull of wild boar for 12 months. 

As the boar numbers were at a critically low level, this news was welcomed by many including Friends of the Boar.
The boar were able to breed, suckle, wean and live without the stress of being killed and this has seen a far more relaxed population of boar in the Forest of Dean.
However, for the last 12 months the boar have still been killed by poachers, RTA's, natural deaths and legal killing by landowners, reducing their numbers even further.
For the FC to suspend the cull of this animal for a whole year it has to tell you that they realised that this species had been over managed (culled) and that if they didn't give them a reprieve they could stand a real chance of being wiped out.
For the last 12 months Friends of the Boar have been actively recruiting volunteers to send in boar sightings online (confidentially). From all sightings gathered we then knocked off all duplicates from the same areas and we were left with 200 animals.
I understand that not all boar have been sighted and reported, but this is more respectable than the 650 animals estimated by the FC!

The FC have announced that they are to cull 100 wild boar in the Forest of Dean between now and January 2013. This is based on their estimation of 650 boar present at this time.
Now, just imagine that they are wrong in their estimation (like previously) and that there are in fact only 300 boar present at this time. They cull 100, which leaves 200 and then after further RTA's, poaching and legal shooting takes its toll, we could once again be left with a critical level of boar in the Dean.
A recent statement from a newly formed boar panel was "Doing Nothing is not an Option;" this is not animal management, this is not wildlife conservation, this is animal cruelty and murder!

I will now touch on two points.

1. How have I come by the estimation of only 300 wild boar?
Friends of the Boar estimated boar numbers to be below 100, probably around 90 when the FC declared they were abandoning the cull for 12 months in September 2011.
From 90 animals, lets say 50 were sexually mature sows, which mated in the later part of 2011. Given that not all young survive and that a sow can have between 2 and 8 young per-birth, lets say that on average 4 young survived for each sow. This equates to 200 boar and coupled with the 90, this gives us a total of 290, rounded up to 300.

2. What does this mean to our boar?  
The answer to this is quite simple, but at the same time devastating!
Wild boar roam in close knit groups called sounders, except for sexually mature males, which only associate with a sounder during the breeding season. If the boar numbers are at a very low level like we have seen recently, this will dramatically reduce the chances of a male finding suitable females. This can and probably will result in inbreeding, resulting in a dirty gene pool. We have seen this recently with our declining adder populations and as a result we are seeing smaller and infertile snakes.
Given the dirty gene pool and stress endured from culling, this could also make the boar more susceptible to disease such as TB.

I feel the boar were not given time for their numbers to stabilise and I also think there is more to this than just "Having to do Something."
An e-petition is on the way. As soon as it is available it will be posted here and everywhere!

Viva! is already covering our cause here: http://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/wild_boar/index.php

FotB Official Website here: http://www.friendsoftheboar.moonfruit.com/

FotB on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/FriendsoftheBoar


On a positive note we can announce that we have three patrons.

1. Andy Rouse - http://www.andyrouse.co.uk/
2. Zara Boland - http://www.zarathevet.com/
3. Sarah Jane Honeywell - http://www.sarah-jane.biz/

We welcome all three to our cause and thank them immensely for their support!

This Piglet has been on a long journey. We can make the rest of it a lot easier for him!

Rob

Badger Cull; Poaching and Lots More

Sorry I have not posted for a while; been busy with house renovations and work. 

Lots going on in the Forest of Dean to take up my spare time though and I have listed everything (with photographs) below. It has taken me a few hours to put this post together, so please take the time to read through as there is some very important stuff below.

Please do not forget to click on the links and support whatever you can as our wildlife depends on people like us. Thanks, Rob.

GlosARG

As most of you are aware, along with a friend (Scott Passmore) I recently founded GlosARG and we are delighted to inform you that we have our first patrons.

Patron 1 - Zara Boland (better known as Zara the Vet) http://www.zarathevet.com/.

Zara is known for her media vet work and is a regular feature on Channel 5, the BBC and Sky TV. She is also the founder and Director of Vet Voice.  

Patron 2 - Sean McCormack

Sean is a veterinary surgeon and has worked with domestic and exotic animals after finishing University. During vet school Sean completed Canine Behaviour and Zoo Medicine elective modules. Over the years he has kept and bred a huge variety of reptiles and amphibians. 

We welcome both patrons and thank them for their support.

Talking of reptiles lets look at some adders, which I photographed this year while surveying. 

This female gained me my first ever "explore" on Flickr and in case you are wondering, yes I was really that close.

She was not very old, probably around 2 or 3 years and like many snakes of this age, she was extremely inquisitive. She was basking on a log and I managed to get my camera on the end so I was shooting straight up the log at her. She watched me for a while before deciding to come down and check me out.

When this happens it is truly amazing as they show no aggression at all, they just come down, taste the air and stare straight into the lens. Photographed using the Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens.

Juvenile Adder (Vipera berus)

Here is mum in the same area, except basking on a different log. The mature snakes are not easy to get close to as they are more wary, so I never try and get up close with them.

Mature Female Adder (Vipera berus)

GlosARG on Facebook

GlosARG on Twitter

GlosARG Official Website

BADGER CULL

Now onto a very important and distressing situation. The proposed badger cull!

I understand that bTB (Bovine Tuberculosis) is a debilitating disease and that it must be tackled, however, I strongly disagree that by eradicating the badger it will stop this disease. Yes it will reduce the numbers of infected cattle, but as this is not a cure I believe that an alternative must be considered.

Over the years DEFRA has spent millions on a vaccine, yet they have chosen to shelve it and go ahead with the culling of 70% of badgers in the Westcountry.

The startling realisation is that if they go ahead and kill 70% of badgers in the proposed areas, it is fact that this will reduce bTB by just 16%! Hundreds, if not thousands of badgers will be slaughtered and yet we will still be left with this disease, why? because other animals (mammals) can also carry and transmit this disease. Mice, rats, deer, fox and wild boar; they can all carry bTB and they are all capable of entering farmland.

I wrote to MP Jim Paice in 2010 expressing my concerns and I asked him to clarify numerous questions regarding farming practices, testing and the movement of cattle in known bTB hot spots. I received a 6 page reply in 2011 where he answered all of my questions, although indirectly.

Badgers will be targeted illegally and it has already started! - Story Here

If you would like to help, please visit the following links

Brain May's Save Me (Yes, that Brian May)  

Save Me on Facebook

Save Me on Twitter

Save Me Official Website

Brian is due to visit the Forest of Dean very soon to talk and express his concerns.

Please also support GABS (Gloucestershire Against Badger Shooting)

GABS on Facebook

GABS on Twitter

GABS Official Website

Playful Badger in the Forest of Dean

                                           

POACHING

If you admit to having a problem, you then have no option but to deal with it and sadly the seriousness of poaching in the Forest of Dean is being played down by the people who are supposed to be managing and caring for our forest "and the wildlife!"

Evidence of poaching can be found all over the forest, yet it is still not being taken seriously. Yes, the Police have asked for information regarding a recent incident, but who is going to grass on a poacher with a shotgun, or high powered rifle?

To see the aftermath, left behind after these butchers have been to work is gut wrenching and it has to stop. The most recent incident involved a 18 month old male wild boar, which had been shot in the jaw and then slowly bled to death in the forest. This is inhumane animal cruelty and the people responsible must be stopped.

The Police are asking for information regarding a 4x4 seen at Forest Hills Golf Club in the Forest of Dean last week. Apparently the occupants were shooting at wild boar from the vehicle. 

Open your eyes people, this is public land, used by dog walkers and golfers. If this carries on someone is going to die!!!

Story Here

Below are some photographs taken deep in the forest where no public access is allowed. The Forestry Commission have said that they do not use this track, so whoever made these tracks were in the forest without permission.

It goes without saying that we obviously reported the location to the FC, yet so far nothing has been done to try and stop them, whoever they are. They are here regularly as the mess is getting worse on a weekly basis.

If you would like to help, please visit Friends of the Boar.

Friends of the Boar on Facebook

Friends of the Boar Official Website

                                              

                                                     

Moving on from the sorry state our country has become under the new so called Government, here are a few photographs from recent months.

Red Fox 

This young fox knew something was there, but as he couldn't see me it made him inquisitive. He walked to within a few metres before he smelt me and legged it. He did come back though, so I obviously don't smell that bad?

Curious Fox

Red Kite
A portrait of a red kite. The key is to position yourself with the sun hitting just one side of the face. Through the naked eye you will still see the entire face, but by dropping the exposure it will highlight just the areas where the sun is hitting.

Thoughts of a Kite!

Three years ago I photographed this chap and ever since I have wondered if I would ever see him again. As the years passed I resigned myself to the thought that he must have been either culled or poached. However, after more than three hours in one location on Tuesday and with a very sore bum he walked out in front of me.
Moments like these are truly magical and will stay with me forever.

Ghost of the Forest

And Finally - Lightning

Nature is all around us, all the time, but on occasions it unleashes something quite spectacular. Lightning is awesome to watch and photograph as you capture details, which can never be seen through the naked eye.
The shots below have been taken over a few years.

It doesn't have to be big, to be impressive!

The lightning in this shot has illuminated to mist forming over the forest

Over in an instance, yet the intensity of the light is overwhelming 

Rob

Wild Boar in the Forest of Dean

Had an eventful couple of weeks with the wild boar as they start to become more active with their little ones.
The vast majority of wild boar births happen between late February to early March after a gestation period of around 4 months and this is a good time to see them as the little ones are very active, learning the ways of the world from mum.

This is the first year that they have been given the luxury of a closed season and this is vital as the piglets are dependant on the sows milk for around 3 to 4 months. Along with two colleagues, I actively campaigned for a closed season from January to June/July so that the young ones have a chance at life, but the main reason is that if a sow is shot, the little ones will starve to death without the support from the sow.
The Forestry Commission agreed to this, but instead of resuming the cull as and when the piglets are independent and able to survive on their own, they have chosen to suspend and review the cull in September.
There is a reason behind this and I hope that it isn't to try and discredit me and my colleagues as we will see a big increase in boar numbers between now and September as the little ones grow and venture further afield.
Whatever the reason I still stand by the fact that it is immoral to kill an animal with dependant young!

Its not always easy spotting the boar and this was my first glimpse of a sounder (group) after at least 5 miles of tracking.


Seeing them is one thing, but getting close to get a decent shot is another! I was creeping up to get a better look at the sow when I noticed movement in the reeds. A piglet was staring straight at me and this is usually where it all goes wrong as they give you away in an instant.


I was low to the ground, out of sight of the sow and it was just a case of waiting to see if the sow would either ignore the piglet, or come and investigate.

She came to investigate!


After watching me through the trees for a while she decided to come up for a better look!


Then she heard passers and also realising I was human she rounded up her young, disappearing into the forest.


I moved on to try and track down some more in a different location and it wasn't long before the tell tale signs started showing.

Boar poo - I try not to lye and roll around in this!


Then all of a sudden a sow stood up right in front of me!


I crouched down out of sight, but it was too late and she was gone. I was gutted, but when they are lying down in the bracken its very tough knowing they are there until its too late.
I decided to stay in the area for around an hour when all of a sudden I heard movement in the forest and it sounded heavy. I crouched behind a tree and watched as two sows and around 7 - 8 piglets came out into the open.
The sow knew I was there, but she must have decided that I was no threat and brought her little ones out to show me.


I decided to go back to this location today and sure enough, within 10 minuets I found them again. This time the sow saw me from the start, but as I kept my distance and crept up slowly she didn't seem to mind.
Its fantastic being in the presence of the wild boar and to be able to sit within a metre of them and their young while they are acting perfectly natural is a real treat.

Pics from today...









Respect these animals and their home and ypu can have some truly memorable experiences being around them.

PS: I didn't take my dog!

Rob

Maybe Next Time?

After around 3hrs of tracking in an area where I knew there were wild boar, I finally found them.
I hadn't seen or heard a single person and felt great as I managed to get into a fantastic position to grab some good shots.
Focusing on a open area where the sun was dappled on the forest floor as it cut through the trees, all I needed was for the boar to move into this area. This is where patience comes in as it is so easy to push to get close, which usually ends up with the wildlife being disturbed and you then miss your chance. It can take a while, but being patient usually gets you better results.
Then I heard voices in the distance and I was praying that they weren't coming my way, but they were. Out of the whole forest, two guys had decided to walk directly where I was camped out; I couldn't believe it!
I could picture the shots I was about to get, but instead all I ended up with was these.

This is the moment she heard them and rallied her young.


Then they disappeared into a dense part of the forest.


Talk about gutted, but that's how it goes sometimes. The sow was by far one of the largest I have seen for a few years and she would have made a great photograph; along with her little ones. I will find them again and hopefully I/we won't be disturbed next time.

Rob

Time of Change

Click link below for my latest column for Ward's Wildlife.

Time of Change

Rob

ITV West - Wild Boar

Click the link below for my recent TV slot with ITV West on the Wild Boar culling issue.
As part of a group I am petitioning DEFRA for seasonal protection for this animal. The majority of "my" filming was cut from the final piece as the Forestry Commission took over to try and justify the reasons for culling 12 months of the year.
As this piece was very biased, I will be filming myself to elaborate and put right the many errors and misguided comments from Ian Harvey.
This is not going away and there will be more. I have never been more determined about anything in my life and I will fight this until the end.

Watch this space.

Click Here for Film

Rob

Wild Boar Update

I have just finished filming for ITV West; to be aired later this week after they have interviewed the Forestry Commission. The filming was to promote the need for seasonal protection for the boars. See reasons below and support us by signing the petition and joining our site. Thanks!
__________________________________

We have been living alongside wild boar in the Forest of Dean for the last seven years. During this time we have slowly seen and heard the scare tactics used by certain people, to gain support and justify the culling of this animal.
I don't know why these people feel they need to justify their actions as I, as an individual fully support the management of the wild boars, as I do with the deer. However, what I do not support is the culling of this animal all year round. The wild boars have an annual rut, which takes place near the end of November and after mating, the Wild boar sows have a gestation period of four months where she will not breed again.
All depending on the age and experience of the sow, she will usually give birth to between two and eight hoglets. These hoglets are dependant on the sows milk for three months and during this time the sow will not let "any" sexually mature male boars near her or her hoglets.
There has always been speculation that wild boars will breed all year round. This speculation is giving out false facts and making people think that as soon as they give birth, they breed again. I would like to point out to the powers to be, which think this is possible.... There are only 12 months in a year and for a wild boar to have two litters per year, there would need to be 14 months in a year!?!

The problem is that a lot of the studying and "so called" facts are coming from domesticated farmed animals, which have a food source supplied to them all year round. These are not wild animals like the boars we have living free in the forest, that have to rely on finding their own food.
One main concern is that the over culling of this animal will disrupt their normal breeding pattern. E.g. If a sows hoglets are taken out, natural instinct will tell the sow to breed again and the males will automatically oblige. This then puts an awful amount of stress on the sow as she has already endured four months of pregnancy and given birth.
This could lower her immune system and leave her susceptible to disease!

Now we must look at it from the hoglets point of view. If a sow, which has dependant young is taken out, the dependant hoglets will slowly perish without the support and nutrients they rely on from their mum.
If they are old enough to survive, they will have no experience, which would have been passed down from the sow. They will be living on their natural instincts, but this will not be enough for them in a world, which has changed since they last walked free here.
These orphaned hoglets will undoubtedly end up as either road kill, or as an easy target for the cull. Either way, this is not acceptable as a "correct management plan" exists to "manage" the population, not to shoot on sight as this is just glorified hunting.
The Forestry Commission recently estimated their to be between 200 and 350 wild boar in the Forest of Dean. That is one hell of a margin and this just proves that they have no idea "like everyone else" how many are actually here!
As already mentioned, I support the management of this animal, but only if it is done correctly and at present they are shooting on sight, an animal which they obviously know very little about.
If anyone from the Forestry Commission is reading this, let me share my one true reason with you as to why I am against your wild boar policy at present.

Firstly, you throw the scare tactics around like there is no tomorrow and you try and intimidate people to shut them up. The wild boar is a living creature that deserves and requires seasonal protection. If you can't control them with a closed season in place, I would just like to ask you where all the revenue is going from this once absent creature. You have killed way over 150 animals so far this year, so surely this has generated a substantial amount?
Why can't you have a "dedicated" team to manage them. I am sure the revenue generated would easily pay for the extra costs and with a closed season in place they will not be required on a full time basis all year round.
You have had 7 years to learn and manage these animals, yet in these 7 years it seems that you still know very little about them. Or is that you only print certain aspects from fear of being labeled as cruel? 7 years on and you still aren't putting the wild boars welfare first. They didn't ask to be here. It isn't their fault!
Only the other day, someone came up to me and said that if they were removed immediately when they were released, there wouldn't be a problem today.
You left them out there to breed, knowing what would happen and 7 years later you are still making excuses.

Like I said, these are living animals, which have dependant young. They are tight family units with strong bonds and "deserve" to be treated right!
I love all wildlife and as you know I work extremely hard with our native snakes each year. I never do anything for finantial gain as you also know and the wild boar mean no more or no less to me than any other living creature in the forest.
I will support you all they way, as long as they are being managed right and you put their welfare first.

Join our site... Friends of the Boar

Sign Petition here... Petition




Rob

Closed Season - Petition, please sign!

Although I agree that the wild boars require management and I fully support this. I am against the culling of this animal all year round.
Wild boar sows usually have between 1 and 8 dependant young in the wild and these piglets rely on their mums milk for the first 3 months of their life.
For this reason alone, these magnificent animals deserve the luxury of a closed season. Something, which is already in place for our deer throughout the country' that also have dependant young.

This is not a dig at anyone, its just time that everyone saw these animals for what they really are. Wild, living creatures.

Please sign the petition below. You don't have to leave a comment, just your signature and it only takes 1 minuet. Thanks!

Sign petition Here

Rob

Open Season!

Below you will find a link to my latest newspaper column. It focuses on the wild boar once again and I hope you will find the time to share your views and comment. Just open the link and search for the feature "Open Season". You will also see a link for 2020 Vision, this will become relevent when you start reading.

I have also pasted the unedited text below the links.

Open Season

2020 Vision 2020Vision will be featured on BBC Countryfile on Sunday 14th August.
Countryfile
________________________________________________

Open Season

The Wild Boars will always be a hot topic while they are here in the Forest of Dean and this is why I need to highlight them again.
Whether you love them or hate them, they are living creatures and nobody with a heart would want to see an animal suffer, but that is exactly what is happening in our wonderful forest.
During the early part of 2011 I worked very hard with a friend; world famous wildlife photographer and conservationist Andy Rouse and together, deep in the forest we tracked and monitored a sounder of wild boars for the most ambitious conservation visual media initiative ever staged in Britain. This initiative is called 2020 Vision and all details of this project can be found online.
After finding the boars the next stage was for Andy to photograph them in the wild, in their natural habitat.
All was going well and it was great to see eight young piglets emerge with their proud mum in early March. However, on 31st March while out checking on them I found all eight piglets wandering, or rather running around the forest alone! Alarm bells started to ring right away as I have never seen a sow leave her piglets on their own in the past and as they were still on their own 4 hours later, I knew that the sow had to be dead.
I photographed this sounder the previous week and the sow was healthy, indicating that she had not succumbed to an illness or disease. Poachers may have taken her, but as the location was deep in the forest I am not so sure.
I had to tell Andy that day and it was then that I realised how close he had become to this sounder. He was emotionally gutted and for the “first time in my LIFE”, I felt ashamed of the way our wildlife was being treated in the Forest of Dean.
At present there is no closed season on the culling of wild boars and in my personal opinion, this is morally wrong as the piglets are dependant on their mum’s milk for around 3 months.
Other feeding sows have been known to take over feeding responsibilities if another sow, which has dependant piglets, dies, but this did not happen with the little ones we were monitoring and slowly they disappeared.
Basically when these little ones lost their mum it was no different to a human mother taking away her baby’s milk within the first month of its life!
Whoever took out this sow is aware of what they did and they also understood the implications of what will have happened to the piglets. In short they were doomed to suffer an agonising death from malnutrition and starvation. The welfare of the wild boars in the Forest of Dean needs to be addressed IMMEDIATELY.
Predominantly, the majority of wild boar births happen in the spring, so the implementation of a closed season would have to be from late February to early June or until the piglets have lost their dependency on their mum’s milk. However, the sows have a gestation period of approximately four months, so I feel the culling of pregnant sows is also morally wrong.
I understand that the wild boar has no natural predators in the UK today and like our deer they require management, but what if there were little deer fawns running around out there, left on their own to die? Would that be acceptable, would it? I think not and as the wild boars are tight family units with strong bonds, they deserve to be treated in the same way as our deer, which have the luxury of a closed season!
To date (7 years) no human has been attacked by a wild boar in the UK and this is something that needs to be realised by the powers to be, which are calling for their eradication.
Not the best start for the Forest of Dean’s involvement in Britain’s most ambitious conservation project!

Rob

Not a Boaring Encounter!

If you walk in their garden they will charge, attack and kill you.

Sadly this is the perception some people have where the wild boars are concerned, in the Forest of Dean. I suppose this is to be expected as the wild boars are controversial animals and why should they be treated any differently than the other controversial animals found all over the world?

It is encounters with these animals like the one I had yesterday morning, which show them as they really are. Not stampeding killing machines, but as tight family units that have a strong bond and will avoid conflict if given the choice.
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The Encounter!

After failing to find the wild boars on Sunday 24 July, I had time to pop out and try again yesterday morning. The conditions were not good for photography, but I was more interested in finding them, than photographing them.
I walked to an area where I have seen then in the past and found some fresh signs that they had been in the area recently. I tracked them from these signs and within 5 minuets I was sat behind a tree with 7 piglets running around in front of me.
Judging by the size of them, they were probably 3 months old and dependant. This was good news as the sow was nowhere to be seen - probably shot like many other sows throughout the forest!



I watched as they foraged the forest floor, searching for roots and bugs.



Then one spotted me!



I stayed perfectly still like I had with the fox on Sunday, but these little ones were not foolish and disappeared into some high and very dense bracken.



I stood on the outside of the bracken for around 5 minuets. I could hear them and see the bracken swaying as they were rooting around within.
I decided to go in and try to find them!
Knowing the sow was not present, I presumed that all was well and that there was no chance of me startling her.
I crept in and came across a clearing, approximately 3 metres across. I could see the bracken swaying, so I knew the piglets were just in front of me. The wind was in my face, so they would not pick up on my scent. They didn't know I was there and it was just a case of being patient, waiting for one to pop out.

Then all of a sudden the bracken started moving like T-Rex was coming through and before I could think "sow" she was there, staring at me!
I was on my knees and had a mixture of adrenalin, excitement and fear pumping through my veins as I looked back at her. As I was on my knees she was around the same height as me, which made me feel vulnerable as I took this photograph.



I held my nerve and ground as she watched me through the bracken and this is when I heard a noise behind me that sent a shiver down my spine. Some piglets had moved around and were behind me and I was now directly between a protective sow and her little ones. This is something I try very hard to avoid as if the sow perceived me as a threat, then the most direct path back to her little ones would be through and probably over me!
Before I could do anything she started moving around me "to my relief" and walked up a slight mound, behind some trees.



The piglets were still in the bracken with me as she circled above, checking me out further. She walked back down the mound and stood there on the edge of the forest, just staring at me.



With a single short grunt, I heard the piglets run towards her and thought she was going to leave the area.
However, she disappeared back into the bracken, heading in my direction! I quickly thought that perhaps I had overstayed my welcome and that I had pushed my luck too far this time, but it was completely the opposite. She just stood in the bracken watching me.



I stayed put for around 10 minuets with the sow and piglets foraging all around me, but I felt that it was time to leave as I couldn't get any clear shots and had quite enough adrenaline in my veins to last quite some time!

Once again another encounter, which blows the scare stories out of the water. I know this animal can be dangerous given the right "or wrong" circumstances, but if you respect them and learn how to behave and react around them, it is one of the most enjoyable and memorable encounters you will ever have with wildlife in the UK.

Rob

The Encounter!

I spotted a piglet dart onto the track and then back into the verge while I was out searching for wild boar. Then I saw the sow with around 8 piglets in total! I hit the deck and crawled on my belly through mud and brambles until I was approx 20 metres away. This is when the sow walked out onto the path!




She spotted me and proceeded to stalk me from the other side of the path! As I was lying down with my camera rammed into my face, she could not make out what I was and this enticed her to come closer and closer!




She was approximately 3 metres away when she suddenly realised what I was and stopped dead in her tracks. She watched me for a few moments and then as if she had suddenly realised she had piglets nearby - took off!
She ran straight back to her little ones, but stayed in the area, not bothered by my presence.




I carried on crawling on my belly until I got to within a few metres of them, but struggled to get a clear shot of the piglets.
I decided to go back to the area a couple of days later and as luck would have it, they were virtually in the same spot and this time I managed to get a piglet, nearly in the open!




On my way home I decided to stop off and take a look around another hot spot. No wild boar, but I did bump into this fine lady. A roe deer!




And finally, a greylag goose enjoying the sun on a local lake. (I was lying in the mud again!)

Wild Boar

Tracked some Wild Boar yesterday evening. Two sows and half a dozed piglets. They didn't hang around long and I lost the light before I could find them again!
There are two piglets in the second picture, just to the right of the young sow.




Rob