Boar and Wolves

 Along with the curator of the Extinct Fox and Wild Cat Museum, a member of the Linnean Society, I am looking at wolves from the UK and Ireland (in this case "Ireland" refers to the island as a whole ignoring political borders) and while awaiting responses to appeals for DNA testing on extinct Old fox and Old wild cats this will be the next phase of rediscovering the lost wildlife history of the British Isles.   

The other subject we are looking at are wild boar.  Wild boar became extinct through hunting in the UK circa the 17th century.  But the 'fun' of the hunt was such that some did want to reintroduce them.  They were likely imported after extinction as that would be a lucrative trade  but some did try to re-establish a (introduced) population.

In British Animals Extinct Within Historic Times, J E Harting. (1880); pp 95 and 96 .

"Forty years ao. Mr Drax, of Charborough Park, Dorsetshire, made a similar experiment. Two pairs, one from Russia the other from France, were originally turned out in the woods at Charboro', and after remaining there several years they, or their descendants, were removed to Morden, a few miles distant. The Russian breed was wilder and more ferocious than the French. The litters were not hunted but caught in nets or shot...."

This was begun in 1840 and not the only "experiment" in England. What we are trying to do is locate taxidermy that dates back to the 17th century purporting to be a British boar. Somewhere in the attic of a stately home or elsewhere there are likely specimens so if anyone has any insights into this please let me know.

Obviously we are also looking for wolf taxidermy specimens and not imported trophies but with a date and location and possible back story. We know of bits and pieces of wolves but we want to try a taxidermy specimen to see whether there is the possibility of acquiring samples (it is non destructive so will not damage the specimen) for future DNA work.

We know there are old wolf taxidermy specimens but we always appear to be one step behind when it comes to hearing about them.

If you can help with either boar or wolf then please get in touch. (add "Boar" or "Wolf" to subject heading) blacktowercg@hotmail.com

`