The tusked terror of the deep bush looks like a domestic pig that has gone back to the wild, leaner, meaner and covered in coarse, dark hair. The males grow sharp, curved tusks that they use for fighting and digging. The body is thick and muscular, built for power rather than speed. A big boar can weigh over 100 kilograms and can be dangerous when cornered. These animals are the forest bulldozers. They travel in small groups called sounders, rooting through the leaf litter for worms, grubs, roots and fallen fruit. Their digging turns the forest floor to mud, destroys the nests of ground-nesting birds and damages the root systems of native trees. They also eat the eggs of lizards and ground-nesting birds, and they compete with native animals for food. Wild boar have been in New Zealand for centuries. Māori brought the first pigs, calling them poaka. European settlers brought more, and many escaped or were released. Over time, these domestic pigs went wild, breeding and spreading through the forests. Today, they are a popular game animal for hunters and a significant pest for conservationists. To see a wild boar is to see the wild ancestor. A tusked, dangerous, destructive animal that reminds us that domestic pigs are only one generation away from going back to the bush. The wild boar's rooting behaviour is unlike anything else in the New Zealand bush. A sounder of boar can turn over hectares of forest floor in a single night, digging up ferns, seedlings, and the roots of mature trees. The ground looks like it has been ploughed. In the morning, the birds come to eat the grubs the boar have exposed. The boar are gone, but the damage remains. Over time, the forest understory disappears. The seedlings that would become the next generation of trees are eaten or uprooted. The forest becomes open, eroded, silent. The boar are the bulldozers, and they do not know when to stop.