THEY once foraged freely in Scotland's forests, but now, after an absence of hundreds of years, wild boar are to return to a Highland woodland to resume their key role in its ecology.
Six boars have been donated by the Royal Zoological Society to Scotland's Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig near Kingussie, as part of a plan to restore ancient Caledonian forest.
They were due to arrive today to aid a regeneration project by conservation charity, Trees for Life, on its Dundreggan Estate in Glen Moriston, Inverness-shire.
The boars will help reduce bracken in an area of ancient birchwood on the estate, helping the growth of native trees – including Scots pine, rowan, aspen, juniper among others – as well as woodland flowers.
Formerly native to the UK, wild boar were hunted to extinction some time in the 13th century. Attempts were made at reintroduction in the 17th century but they became extinct again in 1683, partially as a result of hunting and partly by absorption into domestic herds.
Alan Watson Featherstone, executive director of Trees for Life, said: "Wild boar are an integral part of the Caledonian forest, and their presence is crucial to the ecological health and balance of a natural woodland.
"We are very excited to be bringing them to Dundreggan, as they will play a key role in the restoration of the forest there."
Ecologist Liz Balharry, who co-ordinated the Glen Affric project and advises Trees for Life, said: "Wild boar are outstanding ecological engineers. Their return to Dundreggan is exciting news for forest restoration in Scotland."
Dundreggan's ancient birchwood suffers an excess of bracken, which shades out native flowering plants and curtails tree regeneration. Bracken is also toxic to most animals, apart from the boars. By rooting about and exposing the soil, the boars create seedbeds for the germination of trees and other woodland plants.
The project will focus on a 30.4 acre area, with the boars confined within a secure enclosure. Funding is coming from Trees for Life's members and supporters and a Scottish Rural Development Programme grant.
The Caledonian forest once covered 1.5 million hectares (about 6,000 square miles ) of Scotland but only 1 per cent of it survives today.
Trees for Life aims to restore the forest to an area of 600sq miles in the Highlands. Since 1991, when the first planting took place in Glen Affric, it has planted more than 800,000 trees in the area. The project will build on a similar exercise between 2004-7 on the edge of the Glen Affric National Nature Reserve, 35 miles from Inverness, which covers 56sq miles and contains one of the largest ancient Caledonian woods in Scotland.
In 2001, the Forestry Commission also brought in wild boar to woods near Fochabers in Moray to help a regeneration project being established there. And the creatures, which can weigh up to 180lbs, were previously used to rid woodlands in Morayshire of rhododendron.
Public initiatives apart, Paul Lister, owner of the Alladale estate in Sutherland – which featured in BBC2's The Real Monarch of the Glen – has introduced wild boar as well as elk.
BACKGROUND
THE wild boar, an ancestor of the domestic pig, is shy and generally avoids humans. Its fierce reputation is largely undeserved, although it can be formidable if cornered.
Attempts have been made to reintroduce them to Britain. Escapes of captive wild boar have occurred since the 1970s, so there are now populations of wild boar in Kent, Sussex and Devon.
Paul Lister at the Alladale Estate, Sutherland, has introduced elk and wild boar to his land and wants to bring back lynx, wolves and bears.
