DARTMOOR National Park Authority (DNPA) has said it is working closely with landowners and other agencies after a video of what appears to show a group of wild boar freely wandering the moor circulates on social media.

‘We are working closely with landowners and other agencies to obtain further information and guidance’ the DNPA said.

‘We have no further comment to add at this stage’ the authority added.

A video posted by Bespoke Engaging Education Services (BEES UK) to its Facebook page has racked up more than 120,000 views.

The video, which has shared with the education provider anonymously by one of its contacts, appears to show a group of six boar.

Once native to the British Isles, the wild boar has hunted to extinction in the 13th century; the animal was reintroduced as livestock in the late 20th century.

In the 1990s, sightings of boar roaming freely became increasingly common.

It is thought that animals either escaped of their own accord or were purposefully released.

The Forest of Dean is home to a population of wild boar, as well as areas Kent and Dorest.

And, it would seem, Devon too.

There have been reported sightings of wild boar on Dartmoor stretching back more than ten years, though hard evidence, including video footage, is rare.

Notably, back in 2007, a woman in her eighties fought off several wild boar after they approached her dog near Buckland Monachorum.