Wild boars of more than 30 stone in weight are on the loose in Scotland and are causing mayhem for farmers. The huge animals are not satisfied with keeping to themselves in wooded areas but are not brazenly attacking livestock.

Highland gamekeeper Steven MacKenzie told The Daily Telegraph that he had shot a boar double the normal size as it attacked one of his ewes. He believes that the extra protein from eating farm animals is the reason for their increased size.

The wild boars are descendants of animals kept on farms in the 1980’s and 90’s which were often crossed with domestic pigs to produce bigger litters. The meat was then sold to restaurants. However, some escaped and bread and there are now two major centres of wild boar population in Scotland – one in the Great Glen area and another south of Dumfries.

“We are seeing more and more bigger pigs,” MacKenzie said. “Some of them are weighing over 200 kilos and it’s my belief that they’re only getting to that size because of the extra protein in their diet.”

There is a similar problem in England and Wales, most notable on the edges of The Forest of Dean where wild boar are beginning to get out of control and moving out of the woodlands and onto farm land in search of food and territory.”

The Scottish Government is monitoring the situation before making a decision on whether further action needs to be taken.

In our opinion the time to act has come and gone. Without immediate action the situation in Scotland, Wales and England will only get worse and there is already a market for boar meat in restaurants in all three countries.

The Great Game Guide takes this subject very seriously and has a network of chefs ready to take any and all boar meat it can get it’s hands on. Let us know if this is a problem in your area and whether we can do anything to help.