Countryfile alert!
18th Jan 2019 / By Alistair Driver
Look out for BBC's Countryfile programme on Sunday, featuring the NPA's chief executive Zoe Davies discussing feral pigs in the Forest of Dean.
The programme will feature Richard Vaughan’s Middle White herd of indoor pigs on the edge of the forest – and quite literally under siege! He has the largest purebred MW population in the UK and is very cconcerned about the disease risk associated with the feral boar.
Zoe was interviewed at the same location, talking about how the 2000 Classical swine fever outbreak affected her personally and reiterating why we need to keep ASF out of the UK pig herd. She discusses the wider impacts, for example on local communities.
She stresses the need to manage the feral pig population in the forest.
The programme is also due to feature the president of the Pig Veterinary Society, Duncan Berkshire, discussing gene editing.
So tune in on Sunday evening!
A working group, including the NPA, AHDB, Defra, NFU and the Forestry Commission, is working to share the message that visitors play an important part in keeping pigs safe.
The message is clear: Don’t feed wild boar human food scraps. The perfect boar food is plentiful and growing naturally in the forest, let them forage for their own food.
Producers are invited to join the campaign on twitter using the hashtag #keepwildboarwild