80 kilometers from Bordeaux, a wild boar farm for consumption
As the wild boar population continues to grow in the French countryside, a Périgord breeder is offering this game for tasting.
"The wild boar is a little-known animal. We find all the faults in it, even though it is intelligent and its meat tastes good," Richard Manseau immediately states. The sixty-year-old raises wild boars on his farm in Saint-Félix-de-Reilhac-et-Mortemart (Dordogne). A farm of 400 animals that extends over 40 hectares, where they can feed on acorns and chestnuts. Far from being domesticated , the herd lives in a quasi-wild state in this enclosed area.
"The wild boar is only dangerous if you bother it too much. But even tame, it remains a wild animal. Of my 400 animals, I must be able to approach four or five that are on the farm tour," explains Richard Manseau. The breeder, who works with his partner France Mouteaux, has been able to observe the evolution of the wild boar's reputation in France. Rare and appreciated when friends of his parents created this farm in 1959, wild boars are now swarming in the French countryside... To the point of being considered pests . According to the CNRS, more than 800,000 wild boars were slaughtered in 2021, compared to only around 35,000 at the beginning of the 1970s.
In this context, how can we continue to sell our meat? Richard Manseau, who generates 100% of his turnover from direct sales at his farm and in a producers' shop, believes that his products are distinguished by their taste and tenderness. "Wild forest pigs are not purebred wild boars. Most often, they have also been stressed during the hunt. This is reflected in their taste. My biggest fear is that someone will taste a hunted wild boar, not like it and think that ours have the same taste," he wants to differentiate himself.
On his farm, wild boars are shot on sight, with a rifle and 12-millimeter pellets when they gather to feed. They don't have time to panic, according to the farmer. "The wild boar is an intelligent animal, I can see the difference with my sheep. But the noise of the rifle triggers a reflexive fear in it. So, it runs away as soon as the shot is heard before seeing that one of them has fallen. This is what allows us to repeat the operation," he explains.
As with lamb or beef, the price of wild boar meat varies depending on the cut chosen. On average, the price of this meat is 7.8 euros per kilo live (excluding VAT) at the Sangliers de Mortemart farm. The youngest wild boar meat sold by this farm is that of pets, aged 12 months to 2 years.
lefigaro
