The village of St Bathans has a new urgent problem and one resident has the scars to prove it.

St Bathans Area Community Association president Steve Easton was taken to hospital in Ranfurly after a wild boar charged at him.

Community association secretary Alison Fitzgerald said the situation was “bloody frustrating” and the pigs were becoming “too brazen and coming very close to people.”

Steve was ushering out six feral piglets and a sow from his garden one evening.

As he got onto the public roadway a wild boar came from a different location and knocked him off his feet.

Steve’s wife Pauline said he tried to side step, but didn’t have a chance and he ended up in a ditch. 

 “He had chased them out and herded them up the road towards what we think is Department of Conservation [DOC] land,” she said.

Steve ended up unconscious, with a dislocated shoulder, blackened and bruised toe and gouges in his cheek from the tusks. 

Luckily a mate was on hand to take him for medical treatment.

Pauline said the residents want the problem addressed.

“Next time it could be a child that’s in the way.”

They have raised the issue with the Otago Regional Council (ORC), however an ORC spokesperson told the Central App that feral pigs in that area are not part of the council’s remit. 

Pigs are only covered in ORC’s RPMP (Regional Pest Management Plan) within the site led areas of the Otago Peninsula, West Harbour and Quarantine/Goat Islands, which are all situated in the wider Otago Peninsula area.

DOC Central Otago operations manager Nicola Holmes said DOC was aware of reports of a person being attacked by a wild pig in St Bathans. 

"DOC actively undertakes wild animal control, including pig control, in areas of large public conservation land (PCL) near St Bathans – for example the northern Dunstan ranges. 

"However, the area directly around the St Bathans village has many different landowners, and comparatively small amounts of PCL, meaning a community approach is needed," she said.

Nicola said while DOC is limited in its ability to control wild animals not on PCL, they are keen to engage with the community to see how they can support. 

People can contact Wild Animal Management Team with their concerns regarding wild animals: [email protected].

DOC's advice is not to approach wild pigs as they can be dangerous.