Interest in wild boar production has been generated by the market for `exotic' foods in the UK and in France.

There are now about 100 farms in the UK with approximately 2,000 breeding sows. There are two systems of production: breeding pure wild boar or cross-breeeding with domestic breeds.Cross-breeding leads to larger litter sizes and two litters per year, but may contravene the Trades Description Act.

Boarlets are weaned at 8-14 weeks on to ad lib vegetables, supplemented by 'grower ration' and are slaughtered at 9-12 month).

They are killed in the same way as all other livestock; In the slaughterhouse, boar are first "stunned" with electric tongs applied to the head, the intention being to render them unconscious, although this is not always succesful. They are then shackled by a back leg and hoisted upside down. Their throats are cut, severing the main blood vessels in the neck.

A three-year study of 29 slaughterhouses in the UK revealed that stunning is often ineffective. 36% of pigs were stunned in the wrong position, and an average of 30 seconds elapsed between stunning and sticking. As a result, 15.6 % of the pigs had to be re-stunned, and 20.5 % had recovered by the time they went to the knife.

The UK wild boar market is worth an estimated £2 million.