Wild boar have been released into a Highland forest on Thursday as part of a forest regeneration project.

The six beasts have been donated by the Highland Wildlife Park to the special woodland enclosure on Dundreggan Estate in Glen Moriston, Inverness-shire.

The boar will be used to reduce bracken in an area of ancient birchwood – as part of a conservation charity’s bid to assist the regeneration of trees and woodland flowering plants.

Alan Watson Featherstone, Executive Director of Trees for Life, said: "Wild boar are an integral part of the Caledonian Forest, and their presence is crucial to the ecological health and balance of a natural woodland.

“We are very excited to be bringing them to Dundreggan, as they will play a key role in the restoration of the forest there."

Trees for Life are hoping for similar results to the 2004-2007 Guisachan Wild Boar Project based on the edge of the Glen Affric National Nature Reserve.

That project, in which the charity was a partner, demonstrated the importance of wild boar in forest ecosystems.

Ecologist Liz Balharry, who coordinated the Guisachan Wild Boar Project said: "Wild boar are outstanding ecological engineers. Their return to Dundreggan will utilise the knowledge gained by my project and is exciting news for forest restoration in Scotland."

The ancient birchwood on Dundreggan contains an excessive growth of bracken, which shades out flowering plants, inhibiting the regeneration of trees and creating a dense and impenetrable understorey.

Bracken grows rapidly through underground runners called rhizomes. Because its fronds are toxic to most animals, it is often ungrazed and so spreads unchecked.

Boar provide a natural control by eating both the rhizomes and fronds. By rooting and exposing the soil, they also create an excellent seedbed for the germination of trees and other woodland plants.

The boar will be confined inside a secure enclosure.

Volunteers on Trees for Life's Conservation Volunteer Weeks will help to monitor the boar's effectiveness in reducing bracken, and the project will form part of an educational experience for visitors, including school groups.

Trees for Life aims to restore the Caledonian Forest to an area of 1,500 square kilometres in the Scottish Highlands, west of Inverness.