Packs of wild boar are hunting newborn lambs in Britain , experts say . The Forest of Dean , Gloucestershire , has about 800 boar which usually feed only on plants and dead animals . But in recent weeks , groups have reportedly killed four lambs . Clare Harvey , a vet , saw six boar eat a lamb near the village of Lydbrook . Boar blimey : Boar in the Forest of Dean , Gloucestershire usually feed only on plants and dead animals . She said : ‘ It was quite brutal , with the carcass already having been skinned and the piglets tearing it limb from limb . 'We know pigs are omnivores and devour carrion , but this suggested they may have developed a taste for fresh meat . 'There are serious implications for animal health and the spread of disease. ’ The Forestry Commission said it had heard three further reports of the animals killing and eating lambs in Bream , Parkend and Yorkley , Gloucestershire . In recent weeks , boar have reportedly killed four lambs . In a fourth incident a boar ate a ewe and its still-born lamb - though it is not known if they were both already dead . A spokesman for the Forestry Commission said : 'They are a large free-roaming animal , and they are an omnivore , and they can get rather large . ' I suspect if you spoke to a large mammal expert it would come as no surprise that large animals that eat both meat and vegetation , maybe is doing this . 'It is something we have heard is happening , from second or third hand accounts , but it is not something that any of our guys have seen . ' Wild boar became extinct in England 300 years ago , but have been reintroduced through escapes and deliberate releases . The Forest of Dean group is the country ’ s largest .
Packs of wild boar are hunting newborn lambs in Britain , experts claim . Boar at The Forest of Dean usually feed only on plants and dead animals . But in recent weeks , groups of boar have reportedly killed four lambs . Serious implications for animal health and spread of disease , vet says .