Wildwood Trust

Welcome to Wildwoods’ New Year baby – cute baby boarlet is the first arrival of 2011

Wildwood, Kent’s unique wildlife and woodland park, is celebrating its first new arrival of 2011; a baby wild boar.

The new baby is the first piglet to be born to proud parents Pru and Sydney and marked the New Year in style by arriving on New Year’s Day. The baby is as yet unnamed until its sex can be determined.

Keeper Judi Dunn said “I am so excited for Pru and Sydney, this is their first baby and Pru is doing very well as a new mum. It’s lovely to see the piglet starting to go out and about to explore the enclosure and avoiding the puddles after the recent rain”

Wild boar piglets are born with stripes to help camouflage them in the undergrowth and typically stay in the nest for about 10 days. The young are suckled for about 12 weeks before they are completely weaned, after which they find their food by rooting around the woodland floor with their mother.

Wildwood Trust is campaigning to save wild boar from being hunted to extinction and has asked the Government to legalise the status of this animal and let it take its rightful place in the British Countryside, helping to restore our natural woodlands.

Wild boar form an integral part of the historic landscape of Britain and help woodland flowers, insects, animals and trees regenerate creating countryside richer in wildlife. The Wildwood Trust has been lobbying to ensure that Wild boar are given a chance to regain their natural place in our woodlands to encourage a landscape that’s rich in flowers, butterflies and birds.

Wild boar are just one of the huge range of British animals that can be seen at the Wildwood, near Canterbury, off the A291 between Herne Bay and Canterbury. For more information visit our website at www.wildwoodtrust.org or telephone 0871 782 008.