Gloucester wild boar hits the headlines
13th Jul 2017 / By Alistair Driver
The burgeoning Forest of Dean wild boar population is becoming ever bolder, if images posted by Gloucester police are anything to go by.
In a Twitter post, Gloucester police asked: “Have you lost a #pig? One’s been roaming Westgate Street in Gloucester tonight. If it’s yours, please ring 101 and let us know!”
The post, which has received hundreds of ‘retweets’ and ‘likes’ on Twitter prompted locals to point this was not a domestic pig but a wild boar. According to the Telegraph, local resident Ian Hatton said on Facebook: “That’s not a pig; that’s a boar. It may be wild but it’s worrying if they are coming into Gloucester.”
Survey figures last year estimated there were 1,562 feral wild boar roaming the forest of Dean, with populations spreading to new areas.
While the animals have caused havoc for local residents, the main concern of the NPA is that wild boar pose a threat to the health status of commercial pig herds.
NPA chief executive Zoe Davies said: "Wild boar have played a major part in spreading African Swine Fever in Eastern Europe and this highlights once again the need to ensure we have robust control measures in place to prevent our wild boar populations spreading out of control."
To see our wild boar briefing, click here
For more on this story, see Pig World
