Editing Wild boar (section)

=== As a game animal and food source ===
{{Main|Boar hunting}}
[[File:Wild Boar shop.jpg|thumb|Wild boar haunches and [[Trophy hunting|trophy]], [[Umbria]], Italy]]
[[File:Wild Pork at Chico's.jpg|thumb|right|A wild boar dish served in [[Helsinki]], Finland]]
Humans have been hunting boar for millennia, the earliest artistic depictions of such activities dating back to the [[Upper Paleolithic]].<ref name=mallory1997 /> At some archaeological sites in China dating back to the [[Holocene climatic optimum|Holocene Climatic Optimum]] (HCO), boar composed up to 73% of all medium and large mammal remains, indicating heavy reliance on these suids as a food source.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Qu |first=Yumeng |date=November 2024 |title=Understanding mammal resource choices and subsistence strategies during the Holocene Climate Optimum: Integration of evidence from palaeodistribution modelling, animal bones and archaeological remains in the farming-pastoral ecotone, northern China |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305440324001390 |journal=[[Journal of Archaeological Science]] |language=en |volume=171 |pages=106071 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2024.106071 |bibcode=2024JArSc.171j6071Q |access-date=10 March 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> The animal was seen as a source of food among the [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greeks]], as well as a sporting challenge and source of epic narratives. The [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] inherited this tradition, with one of its first practitioners being [[Scipio Aemilianus]]. Boar hunting became particularly popular among the young nobility during the 3rd century BC as preparation for manhood and battle. A typical Roman boar hunting tactic involved surrounding a given area with large nets, then flushing the boar with dogs and immobilizing it with smaller nets. The animal would then be dispatched with a ''venabulum'', a short [[spear]] with a [[crossguard]] at the base of the blade. More than their Greek predecessors, the Romans extensively took inspiration from boar hunting in their art and sculpture. With the ascension of [[Constantine the Great]], boar hunting took on Christian allegorical themes, with the animal being portrayed as a "black beast" analogous to [[Saint George and the Dragon|the dragon]] of [[Saint George]].<ref name="scheggi9">{{Harvnb|Scheggi|1999|pp=9–58}}</ref>

Boar hunting continued after the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]], though the Germanic tribes considered the [[red deer]] to be a more noble and worthy quarry. The post-Roman nobility hunted boar as their predecessors did, but primarily as training for battle rather than sport. It was not uncommon for medieval hunters to deliberately hunt boars during the breeding season when the animals were more aggressive. During the [[Renaissance]], when [[deforestation]] and the introduction of [[firearm]]s reduced boar numbers, boar hunting became the sole prerogative of the nobility, one of many charges brought up against the rich during the [[German Peasants' War]] and the [[French Revolution]].<ref name="scheggi9"/>

During the mid-20th century, 7,000–8,000 boars were caught in the Caucasus, 6,000–7,000 in Kazakhstan and about 5,000 in Central Asia during the [[Soviet]] period, primarily through the use of dogs and beats.<ref name=heptner1988 /> In Nepal, farmers and poachers eliminate boars by baiting balls of wheat flour containing explosives with kerosene oil, with the animals' chewing motions triggering the devices.<ref>Shreshta, Tej Kumar (1997). ''Mammals of Nepal: (with reference to those of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Pakistan)''. Steven Simpson Books. p. 207. {{ISBN|0-9524390-6-9}}</ref>

Wild boar can thrive in captivity, though piglets grow slowly and poorly without their mothers. Products derived from wild boar include meat, hide and bristles.<ref name=heptner1988 /> ''[[Apicius]]'' devotes a whole chapter to the cooking of boar meat, providing 10 recipes involving roasting, boiling and what sauces to use. The Romans usually served boar meat with [[garum]].<ref name="scheggi30">{{Harvnb|Scheggi|1999|pp=30–35}}</ref> [[Boar's Head Feast|Boar's head]] was the centrepiece of most medieval [[Christmas]] celebrations among the nobility.<ref>Adamson, M. W. (2004), ''Food in Medieval Times'', Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 35, {{ISBN|0-313-32147-7}}</ref> Although growing in popularity as a captive-bred source of food, the wild boar takes longer to mature than most domestic pigs and it is usually smaller and produces less meat. Nevertheless, wild boar meat is leaner and healthier than [[pork]],<ref name=harris2009>Harris, C. (2009), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Jny0R4gEQxcC&pg=PA27 A Guide to Traditional Pig Keeping] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305145204/https://books.google.com/books?id=Jny0R4gEQxcC&pg=PA27 |date=5 March 2023 }}'', Good Life Press, pp. 26–27, {{ISBN|1-904871-60-7}}</ref> being of higher [[nutritional value]] and having a much higher concentration of essential [[amino acid]]s.<ref>Strazdina, V. et al. [http://llufb.llu.lv/conference/foodbalt/2014/FoodBalt_Proceedings_2014-32-36.pdf "Nutritional Characteristics of Wild Boar Meat Hunted in Latvia"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016112523/http://llufb.llu.lv/conference/foodbalt/2014/FoodBalt_Proceedings_2014-32-36.pdf |date=16 October 2014 }}, ''Foodbalt'' (2014)</ref> Most meat-dressing organizations agree that a boar carcass should yield {{convert|50|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of meat on average. Large specimens can yield {{convert|15|–|20|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of fat, with some giants yielding {{convert|30|kg|lb|abbr=on}} or more. A boar hide can measure {{cvt|3|m2|sqin|lk=in}} and can yield {{convert|350|-|1000|g|oz}} of bristle and {{convert|400|g|oz}} of underwool.<ref name=heptner1988 />
<gallery>
File:EberreliefmitHund-3Jhrnchr-FOKoeln2.jpg|Roman relief of a dog confronting a boar, [[Cologne]]
File:Südindischer Meister um 1540 002.jpg|Southern Indian depiction of boar hunt, {{circa|1540}}
File:Modern Pig-Sticking (1914) A. E. Wardrop I.png|Pig-sticking in [[British India]]
File:Регулирование численности кабана (1).jpg|Boar shot in [[Volgograd Oblast]], Russia
File:Brooklyn Museum - The Boar Hunt - Hans Wertinger.jpg|The Boar Hunt – Hans Wertinger, {{circa|1530}}, the [[Danube Valley]]
</gallery>
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