Manitoba must curtail wild pigs

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/05/2022 (1274 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Our province is at an ecological and environmental crossroads when it comes to dealing with a serious threat: wild pigs. These creatures wreak havoc and pose great risk to ecosystems, wildlife, crops, the domestic pig population and, occasionally, to public safety.

Wild pigs were first introduced across western Canada during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Farms were in the midst of a significant income crisis and sought to diversify their operations to produce new lines of revenue. European wild boar was one such diversification opportunity, given the belief these pigs would be confined by modern fencing and would not survive the harsh Prairie winter should they escape.

These assumptions were quickly proven wrong.

Today, wild pigs continue to thrive on the landscape, and are spreading to new areas. They reproduce at an alarming and exponential rate, with breeding occurring year-round. The average female pig sexually matures at one year of age and can produce two litters of five to six pigs per year.

The other contributing factor is that wild pigs have no natural predators. Congregating in groups called “sounders,” females aggressively defend their young with large tusks that inflict severe wounds.

Another significant issue is the fact wild pigs are vectors for dozens of diseases. Public-health concerns such as leptospirosis, spread through contaminated soil and water, tuberculosis and trichinellosis can all be spread by wild pigs. Animal health concerns, including African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease, spread by wild pigs, would have a devastating impact on domestic pigs and the provincial hog sector.

These diseases can be passed because wild pigs will eat anything almost anywhere, destroying crops, pastures and green spaces and sullying waterways.

Wild pigs are an issue for the entire agriculture sector in Manitoba, which is a key contributor to the provincial economy. Wild pigs on the landscape destroy crops such as wheat, canola and pulses, demolish potato crops and damage pastureland.

The increased prevalence of wild pigs across Manitoba poses a significant threat to the bottom lines of farmers, and to the food they grow and produce, particularly as farmers deal with consistent and unyielding economic challenges related to shrinking profit margins.

The Manitoba Invasive Swine Eradication Project was announced in January as a partnership between the government of Canada, the province of Manitoba and Manitoba Pork, with funding from the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. The goal of this project is to identify where wild pigs are in Manitoba, to control their spread and to remove as many pigs as possible from the landscape.

Manitoba Pork is working collaboratively with Manitoba Agriculture and Manitoba Natural Resources, as well as with other local and national organizations that have a stake in this issue.

Part of this initiative is to launch SquealonPigsMB.org and its related hotline, 1-833-SPOT-PIG. We are asking Manitobans to report evidence of wild pig sightings or any signs of activity so we can better track movements and work to further eradication efforts.

As camping and hiking season ramps up, we are asking Manitobans to know the signs of wild pig movements and to be prepared to report what you see and where you see it.

We are also asking hunters and those who own firearms to not hunt wild pigs. This may seem counterintuitive, as we all want these threats off our landscape. However, hunting disperses wild pig populations over wider areas, changes movement patterns and can harm trapping efforts.

Population surveillance and corral trapping are our best tools, because capturing pigs in groups prevents further dispersion.

Wild pigs are an issue we all need to be concerned about. By working together, our hope is that we can eradicate this threat while we have the opportunity, and ensure that our crops, water sources, ecosystems and animal habitats can thrive.

Wayne Lees is the provincial co-ordinator for the Manitoba Invasive Swine Eradication Project, and a former chief veterinary officer for the Province of Manitoba.