ABSTRACT
Wild boar Sus scrofa were driven to extinction in Britain several centuries ago by habitat loss and overhunting. However, this species is unique among Britain’s lost mammals as it is the only one to recolonize as free-living self-sustaining populations, albeit accidentally. Since the early 1990s, escaped farmed wild boar established populations in several counties of Britain (see Figure 19.1), and having no natural predators (since the wolf Canis lupus and lynx Lynx lynx have long gone from Britain) they are predicted to increase significantly (Goulding et al, 1998). The political and social implications of the wild boar’s reintroduction are many because the species affects a wide spectrum of issues with particular concerns about agriculture, ecology and public safety. In Britain the association between beast and man runs deep as wild boar feature prominently in British folklore and heraldry and provoke nostalgic thoughts of the greenwoods from times past. As a ‘Royal Beast of the Chase’ wild boar holds considerable appeal to the hunting fraternity, something shared by those with an appreciation of fine cuisine, as wild boar meat is considered a gastronomic delicacy. Should the wild boar’s return to Britain be celebrated as a former keystone woodland species reclaiming ancestral habitat? Or is a more cautious approach necessary due to uncertainty over the returning animals’ genetic purity, the species’ reputation as an agricultural pest and the threat they may pose to public safety?
