POACHING is at an all-time high in and around the Forest of Dean claims Alastair Fraser, the former district councillor and owner of a well known llama trek­king business.

Mr Fraser has recently lost a newly born llama to an attack – an incident he believes is probably related to a gang working dogs across his land.

The killing happened at Smallbrook Farm, Alvington.

"The llama was born around mid-day and everything was fine. However when I returned at around 6pm I could see something was wrong. The adult was very agitated and running everywhere. The young llama had been so badly bitten and eaten it was impossible even to tell its sex. If it had been a female it would have been worth a lot of money and even a male would sell for around £1,000," he said.

Mr Fraser dismissed the possibility of the killing as the work of a fox.

"This was an attack by dogs and is probably linked ot one of the increasing number of incidents involving poaching locally," he said.

Mr Fraser said that on two occasions recently he had visited his land at night only to see lights in the fields. He had found a number of spent cartridges and no-one had permission to shoot there.

Throughout the Forest, he said, poaching had increased.

"I have lived in the countryside all my life and I am not anti-shooting or ant-hunting, but it should be carried out responsibly. My greatest fear is firstly that someone is going to get hurt and that secondly the shooters will ultimately be responsible for spreading TB.

"A local deer herd has already had to be destroyed because of TB and my fear is that others are now being chased by dogs and driven all over the Forest. It is really a quite serious situation," he said.

Mr Fraser said he believed there was now so much shooting at night that there was more chance of being hit by a bullet than being charged by a boar.

•Mr Fraser is sporting a bandaged finger at the moment after going to the aid of a trapped fox.

Mr Fraser, who lives in Sedbury, found the animal caught in a fence.

He said: "It was stuck so I tried to get it out but its leg was caught. As I was freeing its leg it turned and bit me.

"If I hadn't had thick gloves on I would probably have lost a finger."

Not that he has had much sympathy from friends for his act of kindness.

He said: "Most of them think I'm too soft. They said I should have shot it but I don't have a gun so they said I should have taken a spade to it."