I would love to know exactly who was consulted by the Government regarding the hunting of wild boar, now re-established in Sussex and elsewhere after being eradicated by hunters in the 13th Century.

I certainly wasn't and neither was anyone else I know.

Perhaps it was the farmers - who would have us wipe out badgers, blaming them for TB in dairy cattle, and foxes who they blame for taking lambs and chickens.

Or perhaps it was the shooting faction - who blame birds of prey and foxes for taking young pheasants (not an indigenous species) from shooting estates, where the wealthy pay thousands to shoot birds reared in captivity and slow to fly.

By all means contain the boar in an adequately-sized area of forest so they are not a danger to traffic - both for their sake and drivers, including those who speed through Ashdown and New Forest ignoring the well-signed speed limits.

We have to learn to live with nature, not keep wiping it out for our own selfish ends.

-Sue Baumgardt, Stoneham Road, Hove