I  have the very strong impression that boar numbers are indeed increasing in the parts of the Forest I live in and pass through.   I see a lot more impact on the ground, and see the boar themselves more often (particularly in daylight) than I did a year ago.

What I see is not at all consistent with the boar being "endangered" round here.   I am mystified as to why it would be a problem if the boar were "endangered" anyway. When there weren't any boar here, I don't remember anyone at all bemoaning the lack of boar as a dreadful state of affairs!

It seems unlikely to me that the boar have any predators apart from people (though I am willing to be corrected) – and if I am right, I cannot see any alternatives other than either shooting to control numbers, or allowing the population, and the impact, to increase in both intensity and geographical extent, indefinitely. I personally would not welcome this, and I suspect many if not most of us would find this a serious problem.

I don't think making a decision to shoot boar based on the balance of probabilities of possible benefits and costs, and then carrying out that decision, is "boar-hating" or "bloodlust" as Joyce Moss put it last week. That seems unfair on people just trying to say and do what they believe is for the best. I am also not sure why the boar damage is the responsibility of the Forestry Commission, who did not introduce them, (unless of course the complaint is that the boar should all have been culled as soon as they arrived)?

It is of course important that local people have their say about the boar and get a chance to report the evidence they have seen. Local people who I may disagree with are certainly entitled to their opinions too. (I am less convinced we need to hear the opinions of people from other counties.)

But I wonder if we can also ask the Review to indulge in a little journalism, and find out a bit more about the facts behind all the assertions that are bandied back and forth so we can all be better informed?

I would very much like to know:

How many local households and businesses are benefiting from the presence of the boar. How many are incurring costs in time/money, repairing damage, loss of crops, etc? Are any public bodies such as the highways department keeping a log of incidents, eg reinstatement of verges, removal of bodies so trends can be tracked?

Has anyone evaluated the impact of the current level of boar activity on the local ecosystems?

In areas such as near the Whitecroft football ground where they appear to be disturbing 95 per cent of the ground beneath the trees -- even the bramble thickets -- will this affect ground-nesting birds or rodents that are food for raptors?

In areas where the verges beside the tracks and forest roads are being turned over, does this affect wild plants and flowers? Do they affect the food plants of insects such as bees and butterflies.

Does the fact that the boar attack decaying logs reduce the food supply for other invertebrate-eating animals and birds – or increase it?

Does it affect the carbon cycle, and carbon stores for which the deadwood in the forest is valued?

Do any species benefit from the habitat changes brought by the boar? Is the net effect to increase or decrease biodiversity, and to make the local ecosystems more or less robust?

What is their impact on natural regeneration of trees, and what is their impact on the commercial plantations?

Is there any evidence that "tree clearance" drives the boar into communities? If there is, is there an alternative way to harvest the timber, and what would the costs and benefits of this be?

What is their impact on natural regeneration of trees, and what is their impact on the commercial plantations?

In view of recent national discussions about the causes of flooding, there has been concern about ploughing and overgrazing increasing run-off, and leading to silting that blocks watercourses.

Is there a risk that intensive boar activity could in future contribute to flooding problems downstream of their rooting grounds? Or do they improve soil condition and increase rainwater infiltration into the soil?

Are the boar truly wild or are they interbred with domestic farm pigs? If the latter, does this make them breed any faster than the kind of boar that were native here in earlier times?

Do the boar have any predators apart from forest rangers and poachers? If not, would anything make their populations stabilise if they were not artificially controlled by shooting – and if so, at what density and spread?

What would the impact of an expanded population be on all the questions above?

Can the Review seek an opinion from, for example, the Wildlife Trusts or Natural England, and perhaps the local Federation of Small Businesses, about the actual impact? A bit more information would surely be helpful to us all.

– Kate de Selincourt, Whitecroft.