Are Wild Boar Dangerous? Real Risks for Walkers and Dogs

Why are wild boar mostly harmless?

A wild boar is a strong, heavy animal, and adult males carry sharp tusks. Even so, its first reaction to people is to avoid them. In places where boar are disturbed, they spend the day resting in dense cover and come out to feed at night, so most walkers in boar country never see one.

Their eyesight is weak, but their hearing and sense of smell are excellent. A sounder, the family group of sows and young, will usually slip quietly away as soon as it notices people. Many encounters end with nothing more than a crash in the undergrowth and a loud alarm snort.

When do wild boar charge?

Defensive charges happen in a few predictable situations:

• A sow with piglets. In spring and early summer, mothers with striped piglets are very protective and may run at anything that comes too close, especially dogs.
• A cornered animal. A boar that is trapped in a garden, a fenced area or a dead end may try to push past or through whatever is in its way.
• An injured animal. Boar hurt in road collisions or by hunters are the most likely to attack.
• Animals fed by people. In some European cities, boar that have learned to link people with food have become bold and pushy, snatching shopping bags and following people.

Boar often bluff first. They may stand their ground, raise the bristles along the back, snort, stamp, or clack their teeth. A real charge is fast, low and short, aimed at knocking an animal or person over, and the boar normally runs off afterward.

How common are wild boar attacks?

Serious attacks are rare compared with the huge numbers of wild boar and feral pigs worldwide. A review of reported attacks from 1825 to 2012 found 665 human victims of wild boar and feral pigs across the world in that whole period. Most attacks happened in rural areas, in non-hunting situations, and were made by solitary males. The highest share of reports came from the United States, where feral swine are an invasive species, followed by India.

Injuries are usually to the legs, since a pig’s head is low and its tusks point upward. Deaths are very uncommon. In Europe, which has several million wild boar, the much more frequent risks are road collisions, which can be serious for drivers, and boar damaging gardens and crops.

Wild boar and dogs

Dogs are at much greater risk than people. To a wild boar, a dog looks and smells like a wolf, its main natural predator. A dog that runs into a sounder can be chased, bitten or slashed by a tusk, and owners can then get hurt trying to rescue their pet.

Forest managers in boar areas, such as the Forest of Dean in England, ask walkers to keep dogs on a lead and close by. An unleashed dog that disturbs a sow may also bring an angry animal straight back toward its owner. Read about Britain’s populations in are there wild boar in the UK?.

Calm advice for walkers

Simple habits keep encounters safe:

1. Keep dogs on a short lead in woods with boar, especially in spring.
2. Stay on paths and avoid thick undergrowth where boar rest by day.
3. If you see boar, stop, stay calm and give them plenty of room. Do not approach for a photograph.
4. Never walk between a sow and her piglets, even if the piglets look alone; the mother is usually close by.
5. Back away slowly in the direction you came from. Turning your back and running can trigger a chase.
6. If a boar charges, step behind a tree, fence, car or other solid obstacle.
7. Never feed wild boar. Fed animals lose their fear of people and become a problem.

If anyone is injured by a boar, seek emergency medical help immediately: call 112 anywhere in the EU, 999 in the UK or 911 in the US.

Are feral pigs in the US more dangerous?

Feral swine in the United States are the same species as the wild boar, often mixed with escaped domestic pigs. Their behavior toward people is similar: they usually flee, but attacks can happen when animals are cornered, wounded or protecting young. Because feral swine are an invasive species that damages crops, wetlands and native wildlife, many states ask the public to report sightings rather than approach the animals.

Feral pigs also eat a huge range of foods, from roots to eggs and small animals; see what do wild boar eat? for the full diet.

Myths about dangerous boar

Myth: wild boar hunt people. Boar do not see humans as prey. Attacks are defensive, not predatory.

Myth: every boar will charge on sight. The vast majority of encounters end with the animals running away. Boar that charge have usually been surprised at close range, cornered or hurt, or are defending young.