Wildwood welcomes new arrivals - two new wild boar

Photo by Nandy Soumyajit

Wildwood has taken delivery of two new wild boar who arrived after a long journey from Cheshire.

The youngsters an unrelated pair (as yet unamed) are about 5 months old and are pure bred wild boar from European stock.

The two are settling in to their new surroundings in an enclosure next door to Boris, Harriet and Billy the other wild boar resident at the park.

"They are very feisty" commented Paul Wirdnam, head keeper at Wildwood,"visitors have already seen them snuffling around and they have made themselves right at home".

The new additions will be part of the woodland management around the park. Areas of non native tree plantation will be cleared and a temporary enclosure will be built and the boar will turn the area over encouraging the seeds of British species plants to grow and begin to regenerate the woodland.

Wild boar form an integral part of the historic landscape of Britain and help woodland flowers, insects, animals and trees regenerate creating countryside richer in wildlife. We have been lobbying hard to ensure Wild boar are given a chance to regain their natural place in our woodlands to help our children enjoy a woodland landscape rich in flowers, butterflies and birds.

Wild boar are just one of the huge range of British animals that can be seen at the Wildwood Discovery Park, for more information visit the website at http://www.wildwoodtrust.org/ or telephone 0871 7820087.

Wildwood is an ideal day out for all the family where you can come 'nose to nose' with British Wildlife. Wildwood offers its members and visitors a truly inspirational way to learn about the natural history of Britain by actually seeing the wildlife that once lived here, like the wolf, beaver, red squirrel, wild boar and many more.

Wildwood is situated close to Canterbury, just off the A291 between Herne Bay and Canterbury. For more information visit our website at http://www.wildwoodtrust.org/ or telephone 0871 782008.

Photo by Martin Werker

Wild Boar Facts

The European Wild Boar (Sus scrofa), ancestor of the domesticated pig, is the largest of the present-day wild hogs - the males or boars sometimes reaching a height of 40 inches at the shoulder and a weight of 350 pounds. A male wild boar is armed with a pair of large sharp strong tusks, the upper canine teeth, which curve outward and upward, reaching a length of ten inches in old age. The female or sow bears litters of 3 to 12 striped young in a nest hidden in thick brush.

Some facts concerning the Wild Boar:

• The Wild Boar has a gregarious nature and is mainly woodland-dwelling.
• Wild boar mainly feed on deer truffles, acorns, nuts, tubers, insects, earthworms and some carrion.
• Vocalisations are very important, and wild boar are constantly grunting and chirruping to each other, and squeal when alarmed.
• Wild boar are usually not dangerous and do not attack other animals and people. However, they can be very aggressive, especially females with young, or injured animals.
• Wild boar are naturally timid and (normally!) run away at the sight of people.
• Wild boar have a life span of between 15 and 20 years.

The date at which wild boar finally became extinct in Britain is unclear due to subsequent attempts at re-introduction. In continental Europe, wild boar were (and still are) widely distributed and attempts were made in the 18th and 19th centuries to re-introduce animals to Britain from abroad, initially into private estates for hunting purposes. James 1st released animals firstly from France and then from Germany into Windsor Park in 1608 and 1611 respectively. His son, Charles 1st (reigned 1625-1649), also released boar into the New Forest from Germany.

It is thought that the original British wild boar were probably extinct by the 13th century, and the re-introduced animals became extinct during the 17th century. Between the 17th century and the 1980s, when wild boar farming began, only a handful of captive wild boar, imported from the continent as zoo exhibits, were present in Britain. Until very recently, no free-living wild boar (native or introduced) have been present in Britain for the last 300 years.