Conflicts surrounding the establishment of wild boar (Sus scrofa) in the Forest of Dean, UK
In the Forest of Dean, forty to sixty wild boars were released in 1997 and 2004, these wild boar populations converged and grew into a population of nearly two thousand by 2015 after a six-hundred-year absence. Human-wild boar conflict started to occur in both wild areas and human areas due to negative interactions and property damage. Human-human conflict surrounding wild boar escalated between the people of the Forest of Dean and Forestry Commission. Data were collected from one hundred and seventy-one questionnaire respondents and twenty-five interviewees. Data were analysed through am explorative thematic analysis and mixed method approach. Human-wild boar interactions were varied with negative interactions having the biggest effect on people. Negative interactions created social costs through a loss of a sense of place in the Forest of Dean and economic costs through property damage. Dog walkers in the Forest of Dean were the biggest group who had negative interactions with wild boar. There was conflict over the ownership of the wild boar and contention about the ownership of the Forest of Dean. Historical consciousness of the Forest of Dean is needed to fully understand these social conflicts in the Forest of Dean. Media outlets were viewed as biased with non-local outlets being in favour of the wild boar creating a divide between local and non-local opinions. The culling of wild boar was seen as ineffective due not controlling the increase of wild boar, however management methods suggested by study participants were not ecologically or economically feasible. There was contention over the classification of wild boar, however the most accurate classification is an illegally reintroduced invasive native species. To reduce conflicts with wild boar and other reintroduced species conscientious conservation should be used; equal weighting of social impact is given in decision making as biological and ecological impacts.
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