Update on the wild boar at Dundreggan, January 2010 

The boar have settled well into their new home in the birch woodland at Dundreggan, and are already making an impact on the bracken there, through their rooting activity. Children from local families in Glen Moriston were invited to provide names for the boar, and the arrival of the animals attracted considerable media attention, including three television crews! 

By digging up the bracken's rhizomes, or underground runners, boar are the natural control for bracken, which otherwise spreads unchecked, because its fronds are toxic to most animals. Growing up to 2 metres high, the dense fronds of bracken shade out forest floor flowering plants such as primroses and violets, and prevent the growth of new trees, thereby threatening the future of the woodland. Bracken also makes walking in the woodland very difficult, because of the impossibility of seeing the ground through the fronds.

Within a day or two of the boar's arrival at Dundreggan, a significant ecological relationship had already been re-established. As is known from elsewhere in Europe, where boar still thrive in the wild, robins began following the boar around, looking for worms and insect larvae that were exposed by the mammals' disturbance of the soil. Initially there were just a couple of robins with the boar, but during the period of heavy snowfall and very cold temperatures in late December and the first half of January at least half a dozen robins were regularly accompanying the boar. 

Sadly, two of the young boar died in early January, during the prolonged spell of cold weather. Provisional analysis by a vet gave the cause of death as pneumonia and secondary septicaemia, which developed from a suspected pre-existing condition that was triggered by the extreme weather conditions. Further results are still awaited, and the four remaining boar were given additional feed and bedding while the severe cold persisted. 

Now, most of the snow has gone from the woodland, and the boar have resumed their characteristic rooting behaviour and all appear to be in good health. 

Alan Watson Featherstone

 

At home in the birch woodland - the boar quickly adapted to their new environment, after their arrival Dundreggan	The boar use trees, in this case a birch, as convenient scratching posts to relieve itches and to dislodge parasites such as ticks.	Ground disturbance in action! - soil flies in all directions as one of the boar digs for roots and rhizomes.
Taking advantage of the disturbed ground left by one of the boar, a robin searches for worms and insect larvae in the exposed soil.	Robin meets boar - during the cold, snowy weather, the robins became more daring, approaching the boar very closely.	With a thick layer of snow on the ground, the robins took any chance to obtain food, unperturbed by the close proximity of the boar.
With their larger body mass, the adult boar were better able to cope with the cold conditions than the young animals.	With over a foot of snow on the ground, the boar had a lot of cold digging to do to find their natural food source - we increased their supplementary food to help them cope.	After their morning supplementary feeding, the boar head back into the birch woodland.
	At the peak of the wintry weather, there was so much snow that the sign on the boar enclosure was almost obscured!

Pages about Wild boar on this site

• Wild boar - Species Profile
• Update on the wild boar at Dundreggan - February 2010
• Update on the wild boar at Dundreggan - January 2010
• Wild boar released into enclosure at Dundreggan - November 2009
• Wild Boar arrive at Dundreggan on YouTube
• Wild Boar at Dundreggan Appeal - November 2008
• Video: The Guisachan Wild Boar Project - a short video clip (6.7 mb) about this partner project, situated just outside Glen Affric
• Results from the Guisachan Wild Boar Project - May 2008
• Rooting for Regeneration - Guisachan Wild Boar Project update, November 2006
• Wild boar project takes root(s), literally! - Guisachan Wild Boar Project update, November 2005
• Guisachan Wild Boar Project - May 2004
• Mythology and Folklore of the Wild boar

Pages about Dundreggan on this site

• Dundreggan home page
• Become a Friend of Dundreggan
• The Dundreggan Estate - the perfect site for forest restoration. Management plan in brief.
• £1.65 million Dundreggan deal a milestone for Scotland's Caledonian Forest
• Our purchase of Dundreggan is complete, at last - August 2008
• Dundreggan News: articles from 2006 to the present
• First impressions of Dundreggan's potential for forest restoration
• Biodiversity on Dundreggan - First impressions, August 2006
• Biodiversity on Dundreggan
• The History of the Dundreggan Estate