Wild Boar Snaring and Humane Trapping Standards

Snares used in wild boar management cause significant suffering and are indiscriminate, capturing non-target species, yet remain widely used without adequate welfare standards.

Key Facts

Free-running snares used in wild boar management cause painful entanglement injuries and prolonged distress
Snares are indiscriminate — deer, badgers, foxes and domestic pets are regularly caught as bycatch
Animal welfare organisations document severe injuries including limb amputation from snare entanglement
Scotland banned the use of free-running snares in 2025 in favour of stop snares and alternative methods
Cage trapping followed by shooting provides a more humane and selective alternative to snaring
Regular checking intervals — minimum once every 24 hours — reduce but do not eliminate suffering in trapped animals

Welfare Considerations

Snaring causes unnecessary prolonged suffering to both target and non-target animals. Animals caught in free-running snares may remain trapped for 24 hours or more, experiencing fear, pain and exhaustion. The indiscriminate nature of snares means pets, protected species and non-target wildlife face equal capture risk. More selective and humane alternatives including cage trapping and targeted shooting achieve wildlife management goals without the welfare costs of snaring, making continued use of free-running snares difficult to justify.

What You Can Do

Support campaigns to ban or restrict the use of free-running snares in your country
Report suspected illegal snaring to wildlife enforcement authorities
Advocate for mandatory welfare impact assessments when snaring is proposed for wildlife management
Support organisations monitoring and documenting snare bycatch to build the evidence base for reform
Encourage land managers to adopt more humane and selective wildlife management alternatives