Basti took refuge during a hunt in a moated castle in the Austrian forest district. The Baron and his housekeeper took pity on the little wild boar, who was hiding fearfully in the castle courtyard. The castle housekeeper Sylvia was given permission to bottle-feed him. She is a mother of five herself and knows what an orphaned animal child needs. When Basti got older, they did not want to keep him alone. So Sylvia and the Baron contacted us. Together, they brought Basti to Henndorf. Wild boars are wrongly accused of uncontrolled reproduction. On the one hand, it was humans, who took away their habitat. On the other hand, there are ignorant hobby hunters, who shoot also the leaders of a herd. With fatal consequences, because if the "leader" of the group is killed, nature knows "Plan B". Fearing extinction, wild boars then reproduce uncontrollably. Releasing rescued wild boars back into the wild would not be a good idea. They have got to know people at their best and have thus lost their fear, even of hunters. That is why we also keep wild boars with us until the natural end of their lives. Please beware of their teeth. We do not let our wild boars run free during visitor times, with one exception: Liselotte is a cross between a pot-bellied pig and a wild boar. She also lost her home and her last chance was Gut Aiderbichl.
