Wild boar havoc in supermarket
Boar demolished part of the store as well as a nearby hairdressing salon
A WILD boar caused panic in a supermarket near Nancy, demolishing part of the store as well as a nearby hairdressing salon.
The supermarket's security chief, Grégory Gobin, said the 60 kilo pig first took refuge in the back of the store, part of a shopping centre in Frouard, in Moselle.
It stayed near to the drinks section, before charging through the tills and then along an aisle of individual shops.
It then went into the hair salon, where customers and staff were "terrified", he said.
The salon was evacuated while a security guard – armed only with a flower pot – went in and cornered the animal.
"The boar felt trapped. It massacred the salon, ripped out the wash basins, someone even had to cut the electricity off because there were hairdriers still working," said Mr Gobin, who added that the boar was "like a hurricane".
A vet called in by the emergency services managed to get the animal under control using a dart gun, an hour after it first ran amok. It was then taken to a community centre.
According to the fire brigade of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department, it was likely to be put down. It had probably come out of the forest near to the shopping centre, they said.
The population of wild boars in France is estimated to have multiplied by 10 in the past three decades, bringing the total to around a million. This is thought to be a result partly of an increase in forest and wild scrubland that provides a suitable habitat.
Wild boars are found mainly in the east and west, and along the Mediterranean coast.
