Lesley Docksey is a leading, nationally respected freelance writer, specialising in wildlife and countryside issues, living in rural Dorset.

Here writing, exclusively for The Forester, she gives us her take on the controversial issue of wild boar in the Forest – writing from a rational, scientific perspective that casts doubt – if not scorn - on some firmly held preconceptions.

AN internet search of the 'Forest of Dean' and it is astonishing how many 'activity' sites there are.

Also astonishing is that any wildlife can find peace and quiet, room to breed and grow, or simply exist in competition with so many humans 'having fun'.

And this of course, where the wild boar are concerned, is part of the problem.

Like all British wild boar, they are there because of escapes and illegal releases from farms, boar meat having become commercially viable.

But, as the boar was one of Britain's native animals until hunted into extinction, they soon adapted and were welcomed by wildlife enthusiasts.

Even Natural England recommended their re-introduction to certain areas as being good for biodiversity.

Swedish research shows that boar rooting up the ground can result in a 30 percent increase in the number of plant species. Boar belong in our ecology. But not, apparently, in the Forest of Dean.

The Forestry Commission, in response to residents complaining about damage to verges and gardens and boar reportedly endangering themselves and their dogs, has been conducting annual culls.

They also claim that the boar population is increasing every year and must be controlled. Some doubt the accuracy of their population estimates. Indeed, they fear the boar are threatened with extinction.

There are scare stories about the boar population 'exploding', although Defra estimates there are around 1,000 in the whole of the UK.

Others believe it is 10 times that number. It is true that wild boar have greatly increased in Sweden, caused partly by the deliberate feeding of the boar, as boar hunting has become an industry with 100,000 being shot annually.

But why should the Forest's boar pose such a problem? One of Britain's four breeding wild boar populations has quietly existed for 30 years in West Dorset.

Released from a farm in the early 1980s, they quickly established themselves in the Powerstock Common area. On Kingcombe Meadows Farm, bought by Dorset Wildlife Trust in 1986, several areas of boar rooting were to be seen in the late 1980s.

The Trust has no problem with the boar, has no officer whose responsibilities might include monitoring boar and it estimates the West Dorset population to be around 50 animals.

Farmers shoot them when they cause problems, and people advertising boar shooting make clear that when trophy hunters, for that is what they are, book up for a session they must expect the possibility that no boar will be seen.

Nor are there reports of boar damaging residents' gardens or causing road accidents.

Is the Forestry Commission's cull exacerbating the problem?

As happened in the pilot badger culls when the badger population was over-estimated - even with figures revised downwards, cull targets were not reached - so the Forestry Commission's boar culls have failed to reach their targets. Mostly, wild boar supporters would claim, because the numbers weren't there in the first place.

In September 2011 the Forestry Commission suspended culling for 12 months to enable them to conduct a night-time census using infra-red and thermal imaging equipment. They abandoned the census after just three months, as only a handful of boar were found.

Yet the Forestry Commission continues to raise their estimated population number year on year, along with the ever-greater number they aim to cull. And as Friends of the Boar pointed out, the average weight of the culled boars decreases every year too. This has major implications.

Having decided the wild boar population now numbered 819, the Forestry Commission's target for its 2014-15 cull was 419. As expected, they failed by some margin to reach their target, even when the figure was enhanced by adding boar killed in road traffic accidents.

They also, ignoring the start of an agreed 'closed season', extended the cull for another month in the hope of reaching their target.

But the number of boar deaths between April 2014 and the end of March 2015, as recorded by the Forestry Commission was 357. Of these 77 were from road traffic accidents - three more that had been 'found dead', presumably from natural causes. So the total actually culled by shooting was only 277 - 66 percent of the target.

Of those, 259 were 'sold on' to be processed for meat. One was too small. Some carcasses were written off, 13 as showing signs of abnormalities/disease, and two as 'tainted' a situation that arises when the carcase becomes gas blown because of a delay in getting it to the larder for processing.

It takes time for a body to become gas blown. Could it mean that wounded boar staggered into the undergrowth to die and their bodies found much later?

Two recorded shootings are troubling. One is shown as a 'high shoulder shot'. This suggests poor marksmanship, meaning the boar had to be shot more than once to kill it. The other is listed as being written off due to 'extensive shot damage' - a clear case of inhumane practice.

Another concern is the possible shooting of sows with suckling hoglets. These are left to starve or survive as best they may, without a mother to teach them survival skills.

As some of the mothers themselves are now breeding far too young - reportedly eight-nine months old - they're also inexperienced in avoiding human activity and traffic.

SUCCESSIVE ill-judged culls have altered the demographics of the Forest's wild boar population, changing their behaviour and breeding patterns. A population under stress, as this is, will try to breed more.

The plethora of human activity has driven the boar out to populated areas, resulting in property damage. With too few true adults naturally wary of humans, they have less inbuilt fear so interact rather than avoid people.

And the Forestry Commission does nothing to stop people feeding them. Instead, they are treated as a tourist attraction.

How about educating people instead of letting exaggerated stories rule the day; and installing notices warning people to avoid the boar?

In areas like Dartmoor and the New Forest, where wild and domestic animals roam freely, there are both warning notices and strict speed limits. Surely the Highways Authority could take action?

Culling has also encouraged poaching with boar being found with wounds from arrows, shot guns and air rifles. This needs policing.

Boar and their domestic relatives are amongst the most intelligent of animals. They are learning that one way to avoid the guns is by sticking close to human communities.

So - how about leaving the boar alone? Then they can retreat into the deep forest, stabilise their population and live as peacefully and quietly as they and the Forest's other residents must surely wish they could.