Snout and About!

RonMexico

WILDLIFE experts are now investigating whether wild boars have repopulated woodland areas in the mountains on the Cork-Tipperary border.

The probe came after a walker spotted what he is convinced was a wild boar near the Bay Lough area of the Knocmealdown Mountains two weeks ago.

Philip O'Gorman was walking his dogs when he stumbled on the large swine which ignored him and continued on its way. "I thought it might come towards the dogs but the boar just continued on its way across the road," he said.

The animal had light brown colouring and tight-cropped fur or hair with large ears and a prominent snout -- all of which are a classic description of a wild boar. The animal was spotted on August 2 in an area with hundreds of acres of woodland, scrub land and mountain valleys. Experts believe there is more than sufficient forage for such a large animal.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/snout-and-about--wild-boar-is-back-1864703.html

Dusty87

Large ears isnt a classic description of wild boar. The ones iv seen in another country wouldn have just walked on by. Them ones be vicious. Cant beat the friendly irish one's. Id be skeptical enough on this one.

RonMexico

Probably just Mary Harney rooting for truffles again:D

Not sure if I'd welcome Boar back though, they are vicious alright.

Dusty87

RonMexico wrote: »

Probably just Mary Harney rooting for truffles again:D

Not sure if I'd welcome Boar back though, they are vicious alright.

Well it did say it ignored joe public (in this case the man walking his dog) so it could well have been her Ron. Although it must have been a big boar:):)
I dont think they would be welcomed by anyone Ron. I reckon they would want to be got rid of asap like the muntjac deer.
There is very few animals more aggressive than a boar wit young at foot. In poland a couple of year ago, and there's times people wont walk dogs in the local forest due to them. I for one wouldn be to confident bringin family on a walk wit boar in the vicinity. I reckon they would also cause serious damage to an eco system not able for them.
Could be totally wrong but from seeing them in another country they are a hardy animal and in ireland would have no predators except men so they would thrive.

cfitz

How could wild boar 'repopulate' somewhere in Ireland? Did they swim over?

Alun

cfitz wrote: »

How could wild boar 'repopulate' somewhere in Ireland? Did they swim over?

I assume that just like in the UK, there are places where they 'farm' wild boar for meat, and a few escaped .. something they're notoriously good at doing AFAIK. Also there is evidence that some have been deliberately released due to the farmers having realised they've bitten off more than they can chew. There are a number of instances of this happening in the UK too, and the escapees have managed to breed and reach sustainable numbers in the wild.

Alun

Dusty87 wrote: »

Large ears isnt a classic description of wild boar. The ones iv seen in another country wouldn have just walked on by. Them ones be vicious. Cant beat the friendly irish one's. Id be skeptical enough on this one.

Saw some on a wildlife program on the BBC a while back (Autumn Watch?) and as far as I can remember these were pretty timid beasts and were quite difficult to film. I think they were down in the Forest of Dean down in Herefordshire near the Welsh / English border, somewhere where people have kept livestock, including pigs, freely roaming the forests for generations.

stevoman

i dont like to say too much on the subject but i have been told very reliably that there in fact is meant to be some wild boards in ireland. released in recent years it seems.

RonMexico

Ah a few of the boardies are pretty wild alright, especially in after hours.

Seriously have a look at this video of wild boar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooqfs28WaaE

Dusty87

stevoman wrote: »

i dont like to say too much on the subject but i have been told very reliably that there in fact is meant to be some wild boards in ireland. released in recent years it seems.

Yep, and some released by so called hunters. Dont know about them being 'timid'. Any boars iv come across are very territorial. Even farmed pigs that are left alone and not exposed to humans much can be quite vicious.

Dusty87

Alun wrote: »

somewhere where people have kept livestock, including pigs, freely roaming the forests for generations.

If pigs were kept in the wild for generations, they can morph into boar. They can grow hair and their head wil flatten and straighten, better equiped for digging! So there wild boar could be domesticated pigs which have morphed.

Alun

Dusty87 wrote: »

If pigs were kept in the wild for generations, they can morph into boar. They can grow hair and their head wil flatten and straighten, better equiped for digging! So there wild boar could be domesticated pigs which have morphed.

From what I can tell there are both, i.e. escaped wild boar and 'normal' pigs. The pigs in the Forest of Dean don't really roam completely wild all the year around .. they're let loose in the forest (mainly oak) in the autumn when the acorns are about to forage but are rounded up and kept in smallholdings outside of this time. They're usually more hardy 'ancient' breeds as well, not your average factory farmed pig, and are kept in more free range conditions on small holdings deep in the forest. So they're still quite domesticated and aren't just left to fend for themselves and breed in the wild. They do something very similar (along with cattle and ponies) in the New Forest in Hampsire, and I have indeed come across pigs while walking there which can be quite a shock.

Birdnuts

Can someone clarify the following for me

1) Where Wild Boar ever a native species in Ireland post the last ice age??

2) If so how and when did they become extinct??

There was a similar debate about the Brown Bear in Ireland which was subsequently put to bed when their bones were found in caves in Leitrim and carbon dated to 3000 years BP.

Dusty87

Birdnuts wrote: »

Can someone clarify the following for me

1) Where Wild Boar ever a native species in Ireland post the last ice age??

2) If so how and when did they become extinct??

There was a similar debate about the Brown Bear in Ireland which was subsequently put to bed when their bones were found in caves in Leitrim and carbon dated to 3000 years BP.

Was the brown bear not in ailliwee cave? Were they found in leitrim too?

Git101

I have seen wild boar in Ireland.
I even managed to get some video on my phone.
I haven't seen them for some time so I would guess that they have either been shot or moved elsewhere.

Dusty87

What confuses me is all these reports and reports of them being shot, hit by cars etc. No report has any pictures of a shot one. Same as muntjac deer. I think there was a munjac shot in derry recently though. Until i see a fella wit a big irish head on him beside one il be stil fairly skeptical about it.

boneless

As far as I am aware, boar only became extinct in the 17th or 18th centuries... same as the wolf. I don't think it would be such a bad idea to have them in the faunal record again. I have seen them in the Baltic states and in Poland.

Dusty87

boneless wrote: »

As far as I am aware, boar only became extinct in the 17th or 18th centuries... same as the wolf. I don't think it would be such a bad idea to have them in the faunal record again. I have seen them in the Baltic states and in Poland.

Aye but would the country be able to sustain them without causing harm. I mean, there is a lot of buildings since they were last here, less trees etc meanin less food. Dont deer have to be culled every year because of this??

meathstevie

The main problem with reintroducing wild boar would be of an agricultural nature. It wouldn't take a family of boar much more than a couple of nights to completely wreck a field of spuds for example. All the myths of boar attacking people and dogs and all are well exagerated. They will fight when they feel they've no way out or a sow with young can be quite aggressive but in general they'll do as most other animals : leg it.