The herd of wild boar lives out- side within the shelter.


in the enclosure. However, daily monitoring is needed. Feed for wild boar consists mainly of mashed dried grains, dry hay and silage. Industrially produced mineral feed is given as supplementary feed. In the summer, the diets are supplemented with freshly mowed grass fodder. Reinikainen says with a grin, “If grass fodder, mowed anywhere, is brought here, everything is gone soon – and that includes willowherbs and nettles! Recently, we received 3m3


of wet rye that was not suitable for anything


else. It disappeared immediately. A truck of unfit potatoes was eaten in ten days.” He adds, “These animals eat everything possible. If, for exam- ple, a piglet is born with a so-called defect, it is eaten as well. This is a wildlife safety mechanism, according to which weak animals must not attract enemy animals to the scene.” Water flows to the drinking place mostly under natural conditions.


The farm is sur- rounded by a steel mesh fence, which is just over 2m tall.


A veterinarian is needed at slaughter Probably as a result of a varied diet and a natural life, the wild boar in the farm are healthy and there is normally no need to call a veterinarian. A vet does visit the farm to do pre-slaugh- ter inspection. Reinikainen does the slaughter and cutting of animals himself. The animals are killed onsite using a gun, and after the blood has dripped out, Reinikainen transports the carcass to a small plant nearby. The biggest boar have to be killed with deer rifles. The vet will re-perform carcass inspection at the end of slaughter. Trichinella samples are checked in the laboratory and if no trichinae are found, the meat can be cut. Reinikainen says, “They have never been found.”


The flavour as ultimate goal The farm aims for a carcass weight over 80kg. A wild boar is


leaner than a normal pig, so there is less meat than a normal pig. The tenderloins generally weigh 300–350g. Reinikainen says that the goal is to produce game-flavoured wild boar meat, which means that the rearing period is long, at least a year and a half. He says, “A wild boar can be fattened quickly, but then the meat is different, rather fatty. The meat of wild- fed wild boar has a deeper shade of red than that of cattle, and it is superior to conventional pork.” The goal has been to slaughter about 40 animals each year. The price of wild boar meat is better than the price of regular pork, but there is variation between farm sites. Meat from the farm costs € 38–56/kg, minced meat around € 20/kg, Reinikainen says. Safety must be taken into account when dealing with wild animals. The wild boar in the shelter appear to be tame, at least when viewed from behind the fence. Reinikainen says, “They are domesticated. If one of them goes wild, it is removed, because I have to be able to work here.” The large ones even have names. He says, “Rasputin is tame – when you scratch, then soon the animal is on its side. Sälli, on the other hand, is different. I can handle it, but it avoids humans.” The animals have got accustomed to the sounds of cars and tractors and are not frightened by them.


ASF: a risky situation Recent cases of ASF in Germany have caused Reinikainen to be vigilant. He has also had to shoot wild boar around the farm’s premises. He said it would have been a good idea to build a fence at the eastern border with Russia a few years back. Apart from the disease transmission risk, another major con- cern is the unrest that outside wild boar cause within the shelter. Reinikainen says, “Once one of our boar made a ditch of 15m wide to mark its own territory, when there were wild boar outside the shelter.” Reinikainen never receives any complaints, although the farm attracts interested people – the reason he has installed cam- era surveillance. He says, “I open the doors when anyone asks if they can visit. Kindergarten groups have also been roasting sausages and learning about the animals.”


This article is a translated, edited and approved version of an ar- ticle that was first published in the Finnish trade journal KM Vet.


20 ▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 37, No. 1, 2021


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