SKY
Updated: 19:27, Thursday December 22, 2005
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Around 100 wild boar are on the loose in north Devon and animal rights activists are thought to be responsible.
The herd of animals have tried to get into people's gardens and are terrorising pets, according to residents.
Police believe activists could have pulled down a fence to release them at a farm in West Anstey, near South Molton.
A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman said officers were open-minded as to why the damage was caused.
But they could not rule out that it was "a deliberate act to set the animals free".
Motorists in the area are being warned about the boars in case they stray on to roads.
"They do not appear to be dangerous unless provoked," the spokesman added.
The animals' owner, Alan Dedames, of Woodland Wild Boar, said: "There's a concern with them all being out on the road, and the ones that we can't get back in will get shot.
"So it's not really liberating animals, it's putting them under stress."
Any sightings of the boar should be reported to police on 08452 777 444.
