Wild boar have recolonised parts of England after centuries of absence. Their welfare in expanding populations and human conflict situations involves new challenges for wildlife managers and the public.
Forest of Dean boar are managed through night shooting — a welfare-positive method when well-executed but with wounding risk when poorly executed in dense woodland. Sows with piglets face the additional welfare harm of orphaning piglets if the sow is killed — piglets of weaning age may survive but younger piglets face starvation. Boar injured by vehicles on forest roads suffer trauma that forestry rangers respond to when alerted. Public feeding of wild boar — common by some Forest of Dean residents — creates habituation that increases conflict risk and changes natural behaviour. The welfare of wild boar in the Forest of Dean is actively monitored in ways that many wildlife populations are not.