01-06-2006, 05:20 PM
Forget foxes, get set to hunt boar
By Richard Alleyne
The Government that banned fox and deer hunting was yesterday considering the re-introduction of another traditional field sport.
New laws are expected later this year that could allow sportsmen and women to hunt wild boar with high-powered rifles.
The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is debating the best way to control the population of the species which has re-established itself more than three centuries after being wiped out.
Experts estimate that unless controlled, its numbers, swelled by escapes and releases from farms, could increase to 9,000 within 20 years. A population that size could cause serious damage to the countryside.
Defra yesterday published the results of a four-month consultation with pig breeders, conservationists and other interested parties. It showed that around 80 per cent favoured some action to control numbers with more than 40 per cent calling for total eradication.
The preferred option is to allow boar-hunting with strict rules on the size of guns used. This would safeguard against the animals being injured by lighter weapons.
A Defra spokesman said: "Wild boar can cause damage to a range of crops, conservation sites, sports fields and gardens as well as posing a risk of transmitting diseases to livestock."
But Alasdair Fraser, a wild boar expert, said: "They should be controlled a bit. But it should be done by professional marksmen told to take out a certain number at certain times of the year."
Paul Worden, the former chairman of the British Wild Boar Association, said hunting rights could help farmers diversify, but total eradication would "need a lot of money, people and time. The only way forward is to have culling under control with licences."
.....når bare man har nok penge og krudt.....så går det ikke aldrig helt galt :-)
Favourite Quote: Vi løser ikke vore problemer ved at tænke på samme måde, som da vi skabte dem.....(Albert Einstein)
By Richard Alleyne
The Government that banned fox and deer hunting was yesterday considering the re-introduction of another traditional field sport.
New laws are expected later this year that could allow sportsmen and women to hunt wild boar with high-powered rifles.
The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is debating the best way to control the population of the species which has re-established itself more than three centuries after being wiped out.
Experts estimate that unless controlled, its numbers, swelled by escapes and releases from farms, could increase to 9,000 within 20 years. A population that size could cause serious damage to the countryside.
Defra yesterday published the results of a four-month consultation with pig breeders, conservationists and other interested parties. It showed that around 80 per cent favoured some action to control numbers with more than 40 per cent calling for total eradication.
The preferred option is to allow boar-hunting with strict rules on the size of guns used. This would safeguard against the animals being injured by lighter weapons.
A Defra spokesman said: "Wild boar can cause damage to a range of crops, conservation sites, sports fields and gardens as well as posing a risk of transmitting diseases to livestock."
But Alasdair Fraser, a wild boar expert, said: "They should be controlled a bit. But it should be done by professional marksmen told to take out a certain number at certain times of the year."
Paul Worden, the former chairman of the British Wild Boar Association, said hunting rights could help farmers diversify, but total eradication would "need a lot of money, people and time. The only way forward is to have culling under control with licences."
.....når bare man har nok penge og krudt.....så går det ikke aldrig helt galt :-)
Favourite Quote: Vi løser ikke vore problemer ved at tænke på samme måde, som da vi skabte dem.....(Albert Einstein)
.....ualmindelig velinformeret i forhold til min alder ... :-)
Favourite Quote: En humlebi ved ikke, at den ikke kan flyve......Gå ud på terrassen og vift med armene...hvis du letter må du være uvidende ;-)
Favourite Quote: En humlebi ved ikke, at den ikke kan flyve......Gå ud på terrassen og vift med armene...hvis du letter må du være uvidende ;-)