WILD boar culling in the Forest is to be reduced from an original 2013/14 target of 250 to just 135.

Those responsible for maintaining the Forest want the boar to become a feature of the landscape – which is why they have agreed to try and keep the population at its 2009 level of around 400.

The population of feral wild boar in the Forest has been steadily growing since the animals were unlawfully dumped close to the village of Staunton in 2006.

In 2009, the Forest of Dean District Council recommended to the guardians of the Forest, The Verderers, that the wild boar population should be held at a level of around 90 animals.

Accordingly, from April 2008 to March 2009, 38 boar were culled from the population. The following year it was 62 animals and in the third year of culling, 122 animals.

Between March 2011 and October 2011, 150 animals were removed.

For more on this story, read The Forester.