WILD boar numbers in the Forest of Dean are now under control, Forestry England’s most senior officer in the area has said.

The latest survey estimated 583 boar on land managed by the agency.

“In short, the population at the moment is under control,” Deputy Surveyor Kevin Stannard said in his annual report to the Forest Council’s scrutiny and overview committee.

He said the number of boar was around 90 in 2009 but reached a high of 1,600 some 10 years later.

“We increased culling levels as a result of that, and by 2022-23, we were down to 441 boar in the Forest.

“They fluctuated since, and as a result of the well, the result of the thermal imaging survey that we did this spring gave a headline population of 583.

“We have an active group of wildlife rangers who are professionally culling the boar on our land.

There is an active background neighbouring land owners who control boar to varying levels So we're not alone.

“As a result of that, the population spread from the Forest of Dean has been quite limited and brought back into check.

“Numbers are more or less static, and the current culling pressure is keeping them there.”

Mr Stannard said the target of 400 boar would benefit biodiversity.

He said: “if you look across to continental Europe, who've lived with boar for far longer, areas that seem to be in balance have about the density of boar that would give us 400.”