Almost two years after a horrific attack by a charging feral wild boar "the size of an elephant", Oamaru's Steve Easton is still living with debilitating injuries.
The beast's tusks gored his face, then hurled him through the air with such a force it dislocated his shoulder and knocked him unconscious, causing two brain bleeds.
It's not put him off visiting his holiday home in the New Zealand southern heritage village of St Bathans where it happened, even though the "beast" was never caught, and could still be roaming around the tourist hotspot.
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"These pigs are not your cute pink friends, but dangerous wild beasts. I'm not the kind of man who would let something like this scare me, but it's definitely been a long road to recovery, and an eye opener to the danger of wild pigs," Easton told Stuff.
"In any rural town surrounded by bush, there might be wild pigs, but it's something some people are not aware of...particularly tourists or young children. I'd be worried about them getting knocked over and attacked."
The aftermath of the attack has been "a terrible ordeal" for Easton.
He lost 20kg, developed anxiety leading to kidney stones and ulcers needing more hospitalisation and a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, had shoulder surgery and still sees a neurologist to treat the impact of the trauma to his head, his wife Pauline told .
"As we start the new year we feel more positive he's getting better, but it has been a terrible ordeal.
"His shoulder is worse than before the attack, even after surgery.
"I don't think it will ever come right.
"He still suffers headaches and gets words mixed up - the other day I looked everywhere for the meat for dinner, and he'd put it in the dish washer."
The attack took place at the end of summer 2023, at the couple's holiday cottage in St Bathans, central Otago.
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The historic mining town only has six permanent residents, but in summer, its picture book quaint cottages, lovingly restored heritage buildings, and giant emerald lake become a magnet for visitors and international tourists.
At that time Easton, was president of the local community association, which had been trying to get help from council and the Department of Conservation, about the "growing threat" from the increasing number of wild pigs plaguing the town.
The beasts were roaming the main streets of the picturesque heritage village at night, and coming into people's houses, the couple said.
"They were regularly on the tracks and roads and at night we'd hear them on our deck, and rooting up the grass in the garden. Residents were really concerned, but sadly it took what happened to Steve for DOC to listen - we don't blame anyone, and the man from DOC who came out to see us even in his own time was lovely," Pauline said.
Attack happened 'in a flash'
Easton and his friend, Mike Sullivan, both in their 70s, were on the deck having a sunset barbecue with "a few fizzy drinks", when they heard noises and spotted a group of pigs in the garden.
"It looked like a sow and a bunch of piglets so I got up to shoo them out."
He clapped his hands to get them through the gate and back up the hill to the farmland, wanting to make sure they didn't head into the village.
As he was about to head back, he heard a loud grunting and stamping on the stone track behind him.
"I turned my head and saw the face of this massive black boar and the flash of his tusks. Before I could even register, it was in flight, coming at me."
It's difficult for Easton to describe the animal as the attack happened "in a flash", but he describes it as the "size of an elephant" - about "seven foot to 10 foot long" [2-3 metres].Sullivan takes up the story.
"Steve had been gone for about 25 minutes and I was still on the deck thinking, what the heck is he doing."
Sullivan was horrified when he found his mate tossed over the bank, coming to from being unconscious, and bleeding.
"He was a right mess, blood pouring from his cheek and his eye swollen shut, but Steve being Steve said he'd just hop into bed. Then in the middle of the night he knocked on my door and said 'mate, you have to take me to hospital'.
"He was in such pain he couldn't even get clothes on so I put him in the car in his undies and dressing gown."
Easton wanted to go to Oamaru hospital two hours away, but his pain was getting unbearable.
"We remembered there was a hospital of sorts at Ranfurly so headed there. Steve was pretty much unconscious again by then."When the nurses realised his shoulder was dislocated they woke up a local doctor.
"Steve was out to it but I watched it all - the doctor had to put his foot on the wall to shunt the shoulder back into place. After that I needed to lie down too, so they put me on the gurney next to him. I was thinking - Steve at least you have the comfortable bed, mate."
The severity of his injuries didn't come apparent until much later, says Pauline.
"It turned out he'd had two significant brain bleeds, concussion and his shoulder was going to need surgery."
Head injury impact severe
The impact of his head injury was severe, she said, and began to take its toll on him in the weeks and months after the attack.
"He had terrible stomach pain and diarrhoea, and went from 96kg to 77kg in just seven months. We thought it was the stress of the attack.
It got so bad in the end it triggered ulcerative colitis which is an autoimmune response, which now he'll always have."
Easton was luckier with the goring injuries.
"He could have lost an eye, the slash on his cheek was so close to it," says Pauline.
If he had ran from the boar, rather than being knocked out and still, the outcome could have been far worse, even fatal.
"Farmers have told us it's lucky he did go unconscious and still, as the animal would have given him a shove when he was on the ground, kind of checking, and then lost interest.
"Some think he might have got the cheek injury then, but we don't know. If he'd run, it would have carried on attacking and could have been a lot worse."
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Pauline contacted DOC again after the attack.
"At first they said it wasn't their responsibility, it was in our property, but the pig's force threw him down the bank - so that is DOC land. In the end they came out and helped us set traps. We've now got two traps at the cottage.
"Policing it is a big job - ultimately what can DOC do - other than put fences around communities. These wild pigs are huge animals, they'll find a way in."
Since the attack, local farmers and residents have been setting traps, but the boar that attacked him has never been caught, says Steve.
"Everyone's pitched in, using heat sensors and dogs to track them."
Local farmer Euan Johnstone, the treasurer of the community association, stepped in to the role of president when Easton could no longer do it because of his injuries.
Johnstone now regularly invites recreational hunters to the farmland around St Bathans, which he says keeps the pigs under control at no cost.
Pigs come into the village when the fruit falls from trees at the end of summer, and there are still more pigs than people in town, he says.
While people should be knowledgeable about not approaching the animals, they shouldn't stop people from visiting St Bathans, he says, which also has a spooky reputation for a fabled ghost that attracts tourists.
"I'd be more concerned about the ghosts than the pigs."
Who is responsible for wild pigs?
DOC's Central Otago operations manager, Charlie Sklenar, told Stuff that DOC actively undertakes regular wild animal control, including pig control, in areas of large public conservation land near St Bathans.
"These areas have been treated multiple times a year, including most recently in December, with further work scheduled for January 2025."
"While DOC is limited in its ability to control wild animals not on public conservation land, we have engaged with the local community to see how we can support," said Sklenar.
DOC advises not to approach wild pigs as "they can be dangerous", says Sklenar.
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Why wild pigs are considered 'pests' in Aotearoa
Feral pigs can have major effects on native flora and fauna. They eat the tops of native plants and dig up roots, resulting in the decline of some species.
Pig rooting reduces the diversity of seedlings and saplings and cause a dramatic reduction in leaf cover on the forest floor.
They also pig out on native invertebrates, native land snails and large quantities of native earthworms, but vegetation forms 70% of a pig's diet. It has even been rumoured that pigs prey on flightless and ground-dwelling birds eg kiwi but this is rarely confirmed.
What do they look like?
Wild pigs aren't an adorable Peppa Pig baby pink. Their colour varies from dark grey to brown or black. They can be anywhere from 90-200cm long and weigh 50-90kg.
Adult males develop tusks that stick out from their mouth. They start reproducing at two years of age and breed once per year with litter size ranging from 4-6 piglets [source: Otago Regional Council].
This article originally appeared on Stuff and is republished here with permission.
