Wild boar that has been frightening walkers caught on camera

An elusive wild boar that has been frightening walkers in East Clare has been caught on camera.

The animal was seen this week on a walking trail in a wooded area near Tulla, but there have been no official reports of the boar attacking anybody.

Locals believe, however, that there is more than one boar in the area although just one animal has been seen at a time. They fear the boar will eventually venture closer to the village and could injure a child.

The animal has been spotted several times in recent weeks in the Loughaun area on the main road between Tulla in Co Clare and Gort, Co Galway.

Locals walking along a trail earlier this week saw one boar cross the path in front of them. The walkers stopped and waited for the animal to move into the woods again.

One local man said: “He just stopped on the path and stood there. He had a good look at us but did nothing. I was sure he was going to come at us. He walked off in the woods again but I won’t going back there until I know he’s gone. And, if he comes anywhere near my house, I won’t have a problem taking the shotgun to it.”

It’s widely believed the animals have been illegally released, possibly for the purpose of hunting.

Clare County Council’s animal welfare officer Frankie Coote said: “We had a few incidents last year in different parts of the county. While most of the ones we found were quite tame, these animals can have tusks and tough skin and the evidence suggests someone is trying to reintroduce them into the wild in an organised way so they can be hunted. These can be very dangerous animals especially if they turn wild. The difficulty is that they are relatively sedate, but one sow could have up to 14 offspring and these would be wild and could present a danger to the public and to other wild animals.”