Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) was first officially recorded and subsequently eradicated in April 2009. Since then they have been seen and removed from many locations in Ireland.
Although wild boar may have once been native, it became extinct in Ireland in prehistoric times. Since then the environment has greatly changed and they would now be considered an invasive/pest species. It is illegal to release them to the ‘wild’.
- Download the Wild Boar Invasive Species Action Plan
- Download the Wild Boar Policy Statement
- View all confirmed sightings in Biodiversity Maps
- View Press Release on ISAP 18/11/2011
- View Museum of Ireland statement on wild boar
- Download distribution map of all verified and unverified sightings (last up-dated Sept 2012)
- Download 2012 paper on the ‘Review of the Natural History of Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) on the island of Ireland‘. Prepared by Ruth F. Carden for NIEA, NPWS and the National Museum of Ireland.
In addition to the verified wild boar sightings currently on the Biodiversity Maps system, wild boar/hybrid animals have also been reported other sites but as they lack some vital data they are currently deemed unverified.
Click on the image to view the static map showing the distribution and sighting dates for all verified and unverified sightings (last up-dated Sept 2012).
Please submit your sighting information for Sus scrofa in the wild in Ireland
Note when and where it was seen, by whom and please also supply a photograph of the animal(s) if possible.
As the common name wild boar is used for Sus scrofa in the Third Schedule list for the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011, it is used here but the records do not determine Sus scrofa to species level, it refers to all Sus scrofa seen in the wild for these records.