THE amount of damage the wild boar are doing to the Forest of Dean is not acceptable.

The Forestry Commission is powerless to stop the animals coming out of the forest and onto gardens, sports fields and public areas and reducing their numbers is not the answer as the damage will go on year after year. Its not the pigs' fault – they are only doing what comes naturally to them.

I am afraid the blame lies with the Forestry Commission as it is the expert in woodland management and must have known from the outset that when the boar were dumped on them that to do nothing would lead to an increase in the pig population.

The pigs don't belong to anyone but as they live on forestry land then the commission is responsible for them and it won't be long before the local council or a private individual takes the commission to court over its failure to keep the boar under control.

In my view the Forestry has one of two options to consider: either provide a large, well-fenced, secure area near Beechenhurst where the public can see the boar in a forest environment and promote it as a tourist attraction or remove the herds from the Forest entirely.

– Common-sense, Lydney.