Hunter killed by wild boar he was trying to shoot in Germany

Hunter killed by wild boar he was trying to shoot in Germany Half a million wild boar are killed in Germany each year, but experts say that is not enough to stop the growing population.

Image: The hunter was trying to shoot a boar in Germany when it attacked him

A hunter has been killed by a wild boar which attacked him as he tried to shoot it, say police in Germany.

The 50-year-old man was part of a shooting party with a dozen others who were searching for the pigs near the northeast German town of Greifswald on Sunday.

He was attacked by the male boar after firing off a shot and moving into reeds where he came face-to-face with the mammal, witnesses said.

Police said the man, who has not been identified, suffered severe injuries to his left thigh and fell into some water nearby.

He was taken to hospital where he later died.


Image: About 500,000 wild boar are killed in Germany each year

Officers say they have not tracked down the boar and it is unclear whether the animal was injured.

About half a million wild boar are killed each year in Germany, but experts say the numbers killed are not enough to stop the burgeoning population.

In Berlin alone, about 6,000 boar live in forests on the city's outskirts.

In November, four people in the northern city of Heide were injured after a male and a female boar entered a city centre bank and attacked customers.

A local hunter shot the male boar but the second pig managed to escape during the commotion.

Bank customers escaped from the building using ladders provided by the emergency services.