Press responses to the presence of free‐living Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in southern England

Wildlife management and conservation programmes are likely to attract media attention, especially when the programmes in question involve large mammals. The present study surveyed the response of the press (national and local newspapers, and magazines) to the existence of two populations of free‐living Wild Boar ( Sus scrofa ) that established in southern England in the early 1990s, following the escape of animals from captivity. One‐hundred and seven target articles from 46 different titles were searched for references to 18 separate issues related to topics such as agricultural damage, risk to humans and ecological impact. The presence of free‐living Wild Boar in the English countryside attracted predominantly negative press coverage: the issues most frequently raised by newspaper and magazine articles were that the animals constitute a danger to the public, damage agricultural crops, predate livestock and transmit disease. A minority of articles argued that the animals should be conserved, mainly on the grounds that they could be hunted for meat. There was relatively little coverage of environmental issues, and what there was tended to focus on detrimental effects of Wild Boar on native flora and fauna. We conclude that management and conservation programmes involving large, allegedly dangerous mammals are likely to encounter an adverse press reaction. This is something that the organizers of such programmes may need to take into account when predicting public attitudes.