The Boars are back !!

[sydnie7]

Shy and gentle. . . hmmm. . . I think it was Rutherford's "New Forest" where I read a theory that wild boar were the truth behind England's dragons!

Rentroduced animals will roam, my mother and friends in south-eastern Wyoming saw a lynx that (they later learned) had evidently strayed from a reintro program in Canada.

[Bigkahuna]

No doubt they will get loose and breed, adding to the feral pig population. Whether this will be for good or ill remains to be seen. Here in our Southeast, we have had some feral hogs go over 1000lbs. They are Not friendly cute and fuzzy.

[GDub]

Wild animals will roam to find a suitable environment. They are smart that way--obviously. Makes perfect sense to me. Problem is, too many humans want them to comply to human reason-ing. That ain't ever going to happen. Good on the beasts! Let them roam...

As an aside, have you non-vegetarians ever had wild boar sausage? It's the best!

[cormacmacguardhe]

There is a very big problem with wild pigs here in Washington state, especially on the Olympic Peninsula. They are considered an invasive species, and can be hunted any time. There are also some who were introduced here from Russia, these are very agressive and dangerous to humans. I do hear that they taste very good though.

[Jock Scot]

I'm a bit confused, Skauwt. Wouldn't deer be native there?

We have two species of deer that are native to the UK.The Red deer and the Roe deer. The Fallow deer were introduced by the Normans,the Muntjac deer,Sika deer and the Chinese water deer were all introduced to this country in the last couple of hundred years ,or so. They now all roam the countryside in the wild. There is also one herd of domestic Reindeer and I believe some one is trying to establish a herd of Elk.

[English Bloke]

Wild boar are thought to have become extinct in Britain in the 1200's although there have been a number of failed attempts to re-introduce them over time. James 1st most notably introduced German Boar to Windsor Great Park in the early 1600's and his son Charles 1st introduced German stock to the New Forest also in the 17th Century. Both of these attempts were not successful.

The most recent re-introduction of 'Wild Boar' to Britain were brought from France in the 1970's to be used as farmed animals and these were later supplimented by stock from Germany and Sweden. Boar farming has expanded rapidly since 1987 due to the high quality of the meat and there have been the inevitable escapes from both Farms and Wildlife parks since the early 1990's.

A study carried out in 1998 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), now The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) confirmed that there were two populations of these farmed Boars living wild in Britain. They have subsequently spread all over the UK.

A series of interesting Articles here, relates in much greater detail.

[English Bloke]

I lived in Germany for a number of years and used to enjoy seeing wild boar there where they are much more prolific. They are encouraged, for the shooting of and are the main-stay target of the Shutzenfest, (a big party that revolves around playing with loaded firearms then drinking huge quantites of beer, singing along to 'umpah' bands and eating till you can't stand up... or was that the beer? I forget. ).

The Boars are quite shy creatures and will usually duck away from human contact though you do have to tread careful if you encounter them. The main danger point is if you inadvertantly get between a sow and her piglets or try and face down a male Boar (he will win, you will be very sorry you tried). They are truly wild there and most forested areas have them. They are astoundingly beautiful in my opinion and although I've never hunted them myself and wouldn't really want to, I'm pleased there is the sport as otherwise there would be no economic reason to keep them around. The meat is delicious I might add.

Incidentally, as with the Badger, Boars also carry Bovine TB so are considered a threat to conventional dairy and beef cattle farming.

[Bugbear]

Er well, not quite.We have had a population of wild boar for the last ten years or so.Where they came from, I know not, but these wary animals are breeding happily and do on occasion provide us with some sumptuous meat.

All right, someone has to ask. How do Scots cook their wild boar?

[Jock Scot]

All right, someone has to ask. How do Scots cook their wild boar?

Ted wild boar is not available to most Scots.It would not be available to me,normally,but I am lucky enough to have a bit of ground where they have decided to take up residence!

We (not me!) cook the joints just like you would cook any pork and as some one pointed out, wild boar sausages and wild boar burgers are delicious and we have found that they go down well at bbq's.

[Bugbear]

Ted wild boar is not available to most Scots.It would not be available to me,normally,but I am lucky enough to have a bit of ground where they have decided to take up residence!

We (not me!) cook the joints just like you would cook any pork and as some one pointed out, wild boar sausages and wild boar burgers are delicious and we have found that they go down well at bbq's.

I see.

Over here in the South West, it depends which culture one is from, but they do find their way into sausages and burgers. I've seen a few on a spit over an open fire, too.

There's a bunch of them over in Texas.