A man was mauled by a wild boar in Banteay Meanchey district yesterday, suffering gashes on his legs but avoiding serious injury.

The 30-year-old excavator driver was finishing his shower in a pagoda in Svay Chek district’s Ponsay village when the boar charged him, deputy district police officer Hin Sarun said.

The 60kg animal had come from a nearby forest, lost its bearings and run into the village, he said.

The victim was lucky, as other villagers who saw the attack chased the boar away, using sticks and knives as weapons and surrounding the exhausted animal.

They killed the boar and divided the meat among them.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Sarom at [email protected]