There were a group of people who saw this boar, a male, at a location in the Forest. I happened to be in the right place at the right time. The boar stayed with us for at least an hour. Initially he was foraging amongst the brambles but then began to take seed that I put down for him. Then Bread rolls that someone else put down.
There were a number of children present and during the hour a number of adults walked past, sensibly with their dogs on leads. The boar was neither aggressive nor frightened. I stroked it. In the picture above it is about to take food out of my hand.
I am not in anyway saying that this behaviour is typical of all the boar in the forest. I am saying though that the press and other media should stay balanced in their reporting. I think that the Forest Review would be better off Printing a guide that educated the people of the Forest as to what they should and should not do.
My fear is that at some point in time a group of ill-educated people of any age will start to goad a boar that is as harmless as this one until it reacts and injury is caused to it or it's tormentors.
Despite the best efforts of the boar to stay elusive it is inevitable that they, like Foxes, Deer, and Badgers will eventually learn that there is a ready food source to be found in rubbish either left out for collection or dumped within the Forest.
I believe that the balance has already gone too far and that ignorance will result in the species again becoming extinct in the Forest.
