Walkers in south-west England have been advised to steer clear of wild boar after a man reported that the tip of his finger was bitten off by a large hog.

Clive Lilley, 53, said he was attacked by the animal as he took a morning stroll with his labrador down a woodland track in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. He said the boar burst out of undergrowth and ripped off the top of his right forefinger.

Lilley said he did not realise how seriously he had been injured until he removed his glove and the end of his finger fell out.

He said: “I called an ambulance, which took me to hospital to have it sewn up. They told me it should grow back around as it did not take the nail off, although there will be a scar.

“I’ve met hundreds of wild boar in the woods previously and never been attacked. I have never heard of anyone ever having been injured in this way so there is a possibility it was a rogue pig.”

Boar became extinct in England 300 years ago. The modern Forest of Dean population established itself after an escape from a wild boar farm in the 1990s and an illegal release in 2004.

A Forestry Commission spokesman said: “We are aware of an incident in which a member of the public sustained an injury to their hand caused by a feral wild boar in the Forest of Dean.

“We would like to remind woodland users that the feral wild boar can be unpredictable, particularly when they have young close by.”

The commission said people, especially dog walkers, should not approach the boar. “Go back the way you came or go around them giving a wide berth,” the spokesman said. “Avoid walking through dense woodland. These are their safe resting and breeding areas.”

A cull of the animals has proved controversial. Last year it emerged that animal rights activists were trying to disrupt the cull, in a dispute described as the “boar war”.