A LEADING Kent conservation charity has praised plans for new legislation to help control England’s wild boar population.

The Department for Food, Rural Affairs and Environment (Defra) recently announced a policy and action plan to protect and manage feral wild boar in the UK – many of which live on the Kent and Sussex border.

The plan gives landowners and local communities new powers to selectively cull boar in their area in order to control numbers, but will also establish rules - for the first time - on how to humanely kill the animals.

Wildlife and conservation experts have, for years ,been concerned about the lack of legislation protecting the UK’s wild boar, which allows hunters to kill them inhumanely and indiscriminately.

Herne Bay-based conservation charity and wildlife park Wildwood Trust, which has its own family of wild boar in captivity, said the Government’s plans would go a long way ensuring the species’ presence in England for the foreseeable future.

Press officer Martin Nicholls said: “We are very pleased Defra has made this move, and we have been encouraged by their recent work in bio-diversity and conservation.

“At the moment, anyone with a shotgun licence can go out and kill a boar however they like.

“The new plans will mean people will probably have to obtain a licence to hunt them, with more legislation and rules on how to control them humanely.”

Descended from the domestic pig, wild boar – or Sus Scrofa – died out in the UK around 300 years ago, but escapes and illegal releases from farms across the country led to herds of boar flourishing in several areas.

Woodland across West Kent and Sussex has the largest feral breeding population the country – the officially number is 200, though experts believe it is closer to 400.

Though extremely fast and aggressive if their young are threatened, recent risk assessments by Defra found boar do not pose a national threat to the environment, farming or public safety.

Announcing the action plan, bio-diversity minister Joan Ruddock said: “It is important that communities and land owners are allowed to decide the future of their wild boar population based on their local situation.

“The Government’s support will help them make the right decisions for where they live.”

But the announcement was not welcomed by everyone.

Wild boar expert Dr Martin Goulding, from Cheshire, criticised Defra for not immediately releasing clear guidance on culling boars to stop sows or females crucial to a herd’s survival from being slaughtered.

He said: “Defra has rushed out this announcement because of media hype, but nothing concrete has been decided yet about when to cull them, how to cull them, and protecting sows and piglets.

“There is a great need for education and awareness about this species before any action is taken so that people’s first reaction to boars isn’t to be scared of them.

“There may be a need for a cull in the future, but whether today is the day for it is debatable.”

Details of the framework, consultation and risk assessments can be found on the Defra website www.defra.gov.uk