NINE baby boar face starving to death after poachers slaughtered their mother.

Wildlife experts believe the lactating sow was killed because she trusted humans too much.

Now they fear her young will struggle to survive in the wild without her.

For weeks delighted visitors have been gathering at a lay-by near Cannop crossroads to feed the family of boar.

But the sow was found dead in undergrowth on Saturday morning with her hind leg cut off.

Friends of the Boar and the authorities are warning Foresters not to feed the animals because taming them is turning them into a target for poachers.

See this week's Forester for full story