SCORES of wild boar are being culled without any scientific evidence about the size of their population, according to conservationists.

Wild boar became extinct in the UK in the 17th Century but returned to the wild in the late 1990s.There are now thought to be between 500 and 1,000 wild animals in the country.

In the Forest of Dean, home to the biggest population, the estimates range from 200-350 animals and they have been culled since 2007.

Government policy allows local authorities and individuals to decide whether or not to cull the animals. A local consultation in the Forest of Dean led to the beginning of a cull to try to keep the population at 90 animals. Since January more than 100 animals have been culled in the forest by its rangers and there is no record of how many animals have been killed by private landowners in neighbouring areas.

Martin Goulding, wild boar scientist and author, said: "We are managing an animal and nobody knows how many animals there are in the first place, so should you be culling 10 animals? Or 100 animals or 500?

"They have no idea, so unfortunately the cull is not based on sound scientific fact.

"Do you want to shoot male animals or the females? What age group do you want to shoot? These are questions that responsible animal management needs to answer but all these questions need time and research and that all costs money."