A wild boar adopted by a French horse breeder can remain with her owner, a court ruled on Thursday, after threats by authorities to remove and even euthanize her triggered a storm of protest.

Animal rights campaigners in France are fighting to save a wild boar adopted as a piglet by a horse breeder but now threatened with being put down if her owner does not send her to a specialised sanctuary.

A French woman who has kept a wild boar as a pet since finding and domesticating the animal can keep it for now, a court has ordered, overruling local authorities who insisted the animal had to be removed or killed.

Brigitte Bardot added her voice to storm of protest sparked after authorities threatened to separate Rillette from owner Elodie Cappe and even euthanise her

French horse breeder Elodie Cappe poses with "Rillette", a wild boar she rescued as a piglet in 2023 that is now at the center of a legal dispute over the keeping of wild animals in France, near stables at her farm in Chaource, France, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq

A French court convened on Monday to rule on the fate of a wild boar adopted by a horse-breeder in 2023. The sow, known as "Rillette", has become a cause célèbre in France and abroad after officials declared her a health and safety risk and threatened to put her down.

Elodie Cappe took in a female wild boar. Due to unfavourable laws, she faced imprisonment for keeping a non-domesticated animal, and the animal faced euthanasia. Only now, after two years, has the legal dispute been resolved.