Britain to allow boar hunting

Wild boar hunting is back in Britain after a 400-year absence, the government said Wednesday.

The government sanctioned a selective cull in certain regions to keep numbers from getting out of hand, The Times of London reported.

While the last native wild boar "reputedly met its end on the hunting lance of King James I," the animals have made a comeback in Kent, East Sussex, West Dorset, the Forest of Dean, Dartmoor and other parts of Devon, the newspaper said.

The animals generally pose little threat to humans unless a sow thinks her piglets are threatened. Farmers, however, worry wild boar spread foot and mouth disease and classical swine fever.

Estimates of the number of wild boar in Britain range from 1,000 to 5,000, the newspaper said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

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