The last wild boar in Britain was killed three centuries ago. In France, however, these secretive and seldom-seen creatures still haunt the forests - woodlands that are a legacy, not only of huntsmen and landowners but of craftsmen - barrel-makers and charcoal-burners - who replanted the trees.
The boar is intelligent yet enigmatic, left over from a medieval world. It exploits the rich pageant of the forest, making a pig of itself, often at the expense of tiny farms hidden among the trees. Narrator Joss Ackland
Photographed and directed by JACK BELLAMY
Written and produced by BARRY PAINE
BBC Bristol
(First shown on BBC2)