Wild boar have naturally recolonised or been reintroduced to parts of the UK and Europe, with welfare implications around hunting injuries, human-wildlife conflict, and management of free-living populations.
Wounded boar that escape initial shots experience injury and pain potentially lasting hours or days before death or secondary injury. Sows killed during spring leave dependent piglets that starve or are killed. Boar caught in snares experience significant stress, injury, and often death. Night shooting by spotlight causes acute alarm responses before death. Lethal management conflicts with the ecological and welfare interests of a species adapted to European woodland. Non-lethal management through exclusion fencing can prevent crop damage without causing individual animal welfare harms.