LONDON: Leading animal advocacy groups Viva! and Animal Aid have criticized the Forestry Commission for killing suckling wild baby boars and their mothers in the Forest of Dean. The Forestry Commission has cited damage to the Forest by the wild boar population and says that ‘culling' is necessary. However, Viva! and Animal Aid counter that it is not proven that numbers are a problem and cite evidence that far from destroying it the boar actually promote better biodiversity in the Forest*. The groups also question the Forestry Commission's apparent lack of enthusiasm to embrace non-lethal solutions to population control**. Viva! and Animal Aid are calling on the Forestry Commission and other parties involved to re–think the policy. Juliet Gellatley, zoologist and director of Viva! says: “Wild boar became extinct by the fourteenth century due to slaughter and habitat loss. The fact that this persecuted species is roaming the British countryside once again is remarkable and a cause for celebration. Let us hope that in 2011 we show more compassion, understanding and humanity and allow this extraordinary animal to survive.” Animal Aid's head of campaigns, Kate Fowler, added: “Boars are sensitive, secretive wild animals who deserve to be respected and cherished as part of the British landscape. Instead, a handful of heartless people appear to give greater importance to grass and bluebells than to the boars' right to live freely. If people really cannot stand living alongside forest-dwelling animals, why are they living in a forest?” Viva!'s campaign manager, Justin Kerswell, also added: “These feral pigs are a regular attraction to visitors to the Forest of Dean. Who dictates there are too many boars in the forest as it is still a relatively rare sight to see them? I have yet to see it proven beyond doubt that this is the case. And the fact that they are now killing babies may suggest they have run out of adults to hunt. “Far from being the villains of the piece, research has shown that these much maligned animals actually promote biodiversity and promote plant growth.” BM
