British ambassador to Austria chased by 'massive' boar while walking in the woods

Wild boars can be damaging no matter where they are encountered. Photo / AP file

The British Ambassador to Austria got too close to one local in woods near Vienna - being chased by a wild boar.

Leigh Turner said he came across a group of wild boar piglets while out walking, and had to run when a "massive" adult charged him, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Turner wrote on his blog that he was forced to scramble up wet logs, and injured himself.

"I have some experience of wild boar," Turner wrote. "I know that they are mostly shy, and keep out of the way of people. My approach has always been to assume that they are more frightened of me than I am of them. So how can it come about that you find yourself being charged by a wild boar?"

He had decided to walk in the Lainzer Tiergarten, a park at Vienna. Rain had "emptied the park of all but a few intrepid, well-equipped or foolhardy walkers" when he saw about 25 wild boar.

"In nine years in Germany and nearly four in Austria I had never seen wild boar so close up."

But the drama occurred when he saw a second group.

"A couple of the adults started, obviously disturbed by my arrival. I remembered that in this situation you were supposed to avoid alarming the animals."

He slowly started walking away but heard a sound "like a galloping horse" and turned to see "a massive wild boar, head down, charging straight at me".

He sought refuge on wet logs. "I attempted to scale it and slipped on the wet wood, scratching and bruising myself in multiple locations...By the time I turned round, the boar (no doubt thinking 'that's got rid of that swine') had trotted back to join the rest of the group."

Turner suffered no broken bones but had to have his arm put in a splint. All his injuries were "self-inflicted", he said.

Leigh Turner, London's envoy since August, had injuries to show for his tussle. Photo / Fco.gov.uk