MORE of the Forest's wild boar will have to be killed to keep the animal's population at a "sustainable" level, says the Forestry Commission.

A survey using thermal imaging techniques which use body heat to find the animals identified 819 boar, although there may be more.

That figure is up from 535 found in a similar survey last year despite a cull of 135 animals.

Deputy Surveyor of the Forest, Kevin Stannard, said: "While we are not considering eradication, we do expect our cull target to rise significantly in the light of this new estimate."

He said no decision has yet been taken on the cull for this autumn and winter.

But a pro-boar group says numbers of the animals are not at levels to cause concern and culling boar is not the answer.

The UK Wild Boar Association (UKWBA) says it "looks forward to seeing" how the Forestry Commission plans to take into account the lower than expected population boom.

That refers to a newspaper report in December in which it was stated Mr Stannard believed the population would triple.

He told the Review: "Biologically the population has the potential to treble every year with each female potentially giving birth to around eight piglets and the potential for two litters each year.

"I don't believe I have scaremongered. We are striving to achieve a balance where a population of around 400 boar can live in the woodlands as an asset to the Forest."

The UKWBA says prevention – such as a secure boundary fence to stop boar roaming onto private land – is "better than the bullet".

Mr Stannard said: "The Dean, and the periphery of the Dean in particular, is an unfenced landscape, and that freedom to wander from the Forest villages into the Forest and vice versa is both greatly appreciated by local people and a key characteristic of the area.

"To fence the entire periphery of the Dean, quite apart from the vast cost, would almost certainly not be welcomed by the majority of residents, would interfere with traditional sheep grazing and almost certainly not work."

The largest number of boar found by the survey was at Highmeadow near Staunton, Coleford, with 303. The most densely populated area was in woods around Beechenhurst and Crabtree Hill where the 201 boar worked out at 54.4 animals per square kilometre.

The survey is available on the Forestry Commission website at http://www.forestry.gov.uk/fr/wildboar">www.forestry.gov.uk/fr/wildboar.