by James Scott

jscott@thekmgroup.co.uk

Many accounts indicate that Kent’s existing wild boar population originated from animals which escaped from a farm in Tenterden after the Great Storm.

The Kent-Sussex group, found in the dense woodlands around Ashford and Romney Marsh, is thought to be the largest in the country with numbers reaching 200 or more.

It is said to originate from an escape of boar from a Tenterden farm after strong winds blew down the fences that were penning them in.

They have since established themselves in woodland around Aldington, Shadoxhurst, Mersham, Ruckinge and Hamstreet. Feral boar have also been sighted by Northiam, Playden, Beckley, Peasmarsh and other parts of the Weald.

The only other breeding populations in the country, confirmed by a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) report in 2008, are in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, estimated to be in excess of 100 animals, and in west Dorset.

Owen Leyshon (pictured left), from the Romney Marsh Countryside Partnership said: “The origin of the wild boar population found in Kent and Sussex was that a number of individuals escaped from a farm which was farming the boar for meat in the 1980s.

“High winds at the time brought down trees and broke fences and the boar escaped.”

He continued: “I have been led into the depths of the woodlands in late spring on the Kent-Sussex border and have seen 40 wild boar coming to areas which have been baited at dusk.

“Wild boar are shot in this wooded landscape on the fringes of the Marsh, and there are records and signs of them in woods at Hamstreet and across to Aldington.”

Mr Leyshon added: “They are generally shy animals and will not be seen around the busy woods where there are plenty of dog walkers.

"But they are massive beasts and there are two times of the year you need to be careful as a walker - the spring when the sow has small piglets and the early autumn when the males are aggressive and rutting and full of testosterone.”