Hogs stop play!
School forced to scrap ALL outdoor games after wild boar invaders wreck pitch
Churned up and reduced to a quagmire, this playing field looks like it’s been used as a practice track by rally drivers.
But the truth is that the devastation is the handiwork of wild boar – who have even managed to wreck the goalposts as they forage for food.
now teachers at Parkend Primary School in the Forest of dean have been forced to scrap all football matches and sports days because the ground is unusable.
The woodland around the school in Lydney, Gloucester, is populated with hundreds of wild boar that have been attacking pets and ransacking bins. headmistress Jill roberts said the school has stopped using its outdoor garden area, where lessons are sometimes taught, for fear the wild boar might appear.
She said: ‘It’s so disappointing. We had this lovely green space and now our 60 children are denied the use of it. The boar have completely dug it up, and the children are really upset. They can’t play on it any more, as it’s too uneven to run on, and it means we can’t hold any football tournaments, play cricket, or hold sports days.’
The school is appealing for locals to help repair the field and make its boundary boar-proof. Mrs roberts said: ‘They came in for the first time in the summer holidays and caused a little bit of damage, but this term it’s gone from a nice green open space to completely destroyed.
‘We see them regularly, even in the car park when parents turn up to drop their children off. They’re not bothered about people at all, and they show no fear. Last week about 12 of them trotted past, while another caused a road accident outside. We love all the wildlife here, as we’re in the heart of the forest, but there are so many boar, they are making life very difficult at the moment.’ It’s not the first time this year that residents of the Forest of dean area have been under siege from boar. In April, a group of the animals ran riot in a graveyard in nearby Cinderford. And in January, dog walker Clive Lilley, 35, was left terrified when one of the animals bit off the tip of his finger.
Parkend School has tried contacting the Forestry Commission, which owns the surrounding woodland, but to date they have been unable to get a response.