There could soon be a new race taking place at Ffos Las Racecourse – the Wild Boar Handicap Stakes!
For the first time since the course opened in 2009, wild boar have been spotted grazing on the back straight of the Carmarthenshire course.
Staff at the venue near Trimsaran have no explanation for the sudden appearance of the new four-legged entrants, seen around the five-furlong mark.
Ffos Las Racecourse general manager Kevin Hire said: We have no idea where they have come from, and you could say their visit to the racecourse has totally taken us by surprise.
“We were initially concerned about the possible damage that could be caused to the course by their visit, however they disappeared just as quickly as they came.
“It’s nice to have visitors to the course, but I’m not sure if we will see them again for a while, or whether it was a one-off.
”Loch Ness has the legend of Nessie. Maybe, we’ll have a legend around the Ffos Las wild boar, although the pictures show they actually exist.”
Wild boar populations are known to be on the increase in many areas of Wales and across the UK, mostly originating from animals that have escaped from farms.
But sightings are still rare, since it is estimated only approximately 2,600 boars are living in the wild across the UK. They are most commonly found around forest areas like the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire.
There are small pockets of breeding populations, which are normally only spotted at night.
