The history, mysteries and unsolved murders of The Uk

The Beast Of Dean

The Beast of Dean is an animal said to live, the r to have once lived, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. It was originally thought to resemble a wild boar (due scrofa), but abnormally large in size. At that time of its first sightings, wild boar were extinct in Britain.

History:
Farmers from the village of Parkend undertook an expedition to capture and kill the creature, in 1802 but found nothing. The animal they were hunting was reported to be a boar large enough to fell trees and hedges.

Beginning in the early 1990s, a number of Phanton cats were sighted in the Forest of Dean. The identity of these "Black Panthers" was thrown into further confusion in 2002 when a large Wild Boar with black fur was killed in a collision along the A40 near the town of Over.

In fiction:
In the science-fiction television series Primeval, the Beast of Dean turns out to be a gorgonopsid that arrived in the present day through a wormhole leading to the Permian period.

References:
1) Reed, Matthew and Naylor, Rhiannon and Lewis, Nick (2014) Feral big cats in rural Gloucestershire - reflecting on the possible presence of exotic animal in the English landscape.

2) Goulding, M. 2001.Possible genetic sources of free-livi g Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in southern England. Mammal Review: 31

3) Newton, M. 2005. Encyclopaedia of Cryptozoology: a Global Guide. McFarland and Company Incorporated. London. p. 49

4) Flett, Kathryn (11 February 2007). "Saturday night feast of big, big beasts" The Observer. Archived from the original on 19 February 2007.

Could the Beast of Dean Returned?
The Beast of Dean in The Past:
Back in 1802 the people of Parkend, a small village in the forest of Dean, were troubled by a strange creature living in the woods. Reports of trees being knocked down, fences and bushes trampled and strange loud roars were coming from many people in the area. This went on for many years.

By 1807 the people of Parkend had had enough, and so a group of hunters went out to capture and kill whatever was causing the troubles. The creature they found was said to be similar to a wild boar only much larger, and much more dangerous. Although some stories say the beast was killed by the hunters, others say it escaped.

This creature was known as the Beast Of Dean, or the Moose-pig

Wild Boar Now:
While this story isn't outside of the realms of possibility, at the time wild boar had been extinct in England for many years. Also, wild boar are not known to be partially large or aggressive to humans.

However, history may be due to repeat itself. In the 1990s a group of wild boar escaped from a local farm, then in 2004 another group where illegally dumped on the western edge of the forest. These two groups have now merged and are living wild.

As they are descendants of farm-bred wild boar they are not the same as the original native species. Thanks to high amounts of food and shelter they are thriving. They are even found at RSPB Nagshead near the village of Parkend.

​Luckily for us, they are rarely dangerous to humans. Male boars do not see humans as much of a threat and will often just stand and watch people go past, while females tend to only show aggression when they have hoglets. Groups of females, known as a sounder, will often live together with their young and when they feel they are in danger the largest of the sows will stand in the way and grunt while the smaller sows move the hoglets away. Once the hoglets are out of sight the large sow will often wander off to find them

The Future Of Dean's Wild Boar:
Nevertheless, wild boar seems to be becoming less fearless towards humans and are getting bigger. Due to their selectively bred ancestors, they are already bigger than actual non-domesticated wild boar and they now appear to be breading with farm pigs which not only means they are getting even bigger but also are less scared of humans.

While local boar farmers have called for them to be slaughtered, the forestry commission has said that a low population density of the boar is actually good for the local environment and that while some culling may be needed the boars can be managed so that they don't cause havoc.

Back in July of last year, a boar was spotted wondering in Gloucester city centre. It was substantially bigger than common wild boars and didn't seem fussed at being to close to humans. Could this be the Beast of Dean returned?