Wanted: wild male pig

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This article was published 30/10/2023 (734 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — A wild pig sought by a Manitoba-based organization has been on the lam since last year, according to a representative.

Last week, the Sun reported that Squeal on Pigs Manitoba put out a wanted poster for a wild male pig that has been seen travelling in and around Wawanesa and Alexander.

The organization, which is dedicated to tracking down invasive wild pigs, offered landowners in the area cameras, bait and corral traps to help capture this pig and any others in the area.

In an email to the Sun, Squeal on Pigs Manitoba’s manager of field operations Devon Baete said the pig in question is notable because of its unusual behaviour.

He wrote that wild pigs mainly travel and feed at night, but this one was seen out in the daytime and travelling over a large area.

“As an invasive species, wild pigs have no natural predators and this wild pig in particular showed no fear of travelling along roads rather than in thick brush,” Baete wrote. “From the reports, we were able to determine it was moving back and forth every few weeks but had no reports between these areas.”

Reports ceased when the last deer hunting season started and it had been assumed the pig had been removed by hunters’ activity, but almost a year later reports have started coming in again and the organization believes it is the same animal.

Now that the weather is getting colder, Baete wrote, he’s hoping the pig will slow down its movements and his organization can work with landowners to track it down. According to him, most of the organization’s trapping work happens during the winter.

Across Manitoba, he said 50 landowners are currently working with Squeal on Pigs to track wild pigs. Individual animals like this one are sometimes singled out because every pig is unique and different methods are needed to capture them.

“A lot of the research and control techniques that are shared around don’t fit with Manitoba’s wild pigs,” he wrote. “We are able to work one-on-one with each landowner so they can be successful at removing the wild pig or pigs on their property.”

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Beyond just competing with native wildlife like deer for food and resources, there are worries that wild pigs could spread disease to domesticated pigs.

In the last few months, Baete wrote that Squeal on Pigs has successfully removed more than 60 wild pigs.

Beyond assistance from landowners, Baete said municipalities have been very helpful in spreading the word about wild pigs and grader operators working on rural roads have been good at spotting areas where they have been rooting.

For more information on the campaign or to request assistance with a wild pig, visit squealonpigsmb.ca.

— Brandon Sun