§ Lord Hoyleasked Her Majesty's Government:
What wild boar in the United Kingdom feed on. [HL1329]
§ Lord WhittyWild boar have only very recently recolonised parts of the United Kingdom and their diet has not been investigated in detail. We do, however, have a good understanding of their feeding preferences from studies carried out elsewhere in the world. The following description of wild boar feeding behaviour is taken from a Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food report published in 1998.1
51WA"Wild hoar are omnivorous and will consume a large variety of food items; plant food typically constitutes around 90 per cent of the diet, with animal matter constituting around 10 per cent, although a tendency for concentrating on a few preferred foods, such as forest fruits and grain plants can be shown where these items occur in abundance."
1 Current Status and Potential Impact of Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in the English Countryside: A Risk Assessment. (1998) M. J. Goulding, G. Smith, and S. Baker. Report for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, UK.
This report is available on the Defra website at: www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/vertebrates/reports.htm
§ Lord Hoyleasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether wild boar have been known to attack persons in the United Kingdom. [HL1330]
§ Lord WhittyWe are not aware of any confirmed attacks on people in the United Kingdom, although there have been a small number of reported incidents involving wild boar. In one, a farm worker was apparently chased by a wild boar and took refuge on his tractor. In another, a woman was knocked over in a high street and injured by a farmed wild boar fleeing from a nearby abattoir.