WILD BOAR reintroduced to the grounds of a medieval castle are to feature in a popular television programme.

The wild animals at Bolton Castle, near Leyburn, will feature on Sunday's (February 3) BBC Countryfile.

The boars are classified as dangerous animals and are housed in a four-acre fenced enclosure. They were introduced in August 2010 as part of an ongoing initiative to give visitors a flavour of what life was like in the castle in the 14th and 15th centuries.

In the Countryfile feature this Sunday, presenter Julia Bradbury will be shown feeding the boars, as well as touring the castle and seeing a Merlin being trained to fly in the courtyard by Tom Graham of Thorpe Perrow Birds of Prey.

The castle’s manager, Katie Boggis, said: “Bolton Castle is one of the best preserved medieval castles in the country. When the castle was built in 1399, wild boar would have lived and roamed in nearby woodland.

“In addition to the boar, we have also acquired a number of Wensleydale Sheep. These rare breeds were created in the 19th century and are particularly relevant to the castle for two reasons.

“Not only are they a local breed, the first ones were bred very nearby. There would certainly have been similar looking long wool sheep in medieval times though.

“Both the wild boar and the sheep are helping to give visitors an idea of what life would have been like at the castle over the past 600 years.”