By Geoff Geddes
In the Canadian pork sector, there is always a new challenge to address, and the latest one involves wild boar. Considered an invasive species, they are like a cancer infesting the industry.
“These animals cause ecological harm, wildlife habitat destruction and crop damage, and they serve as a reservoir for diseases that can affect wild and domestic pigs,” said Colleen McElwain, Executive Director, Animal Health Canada.
While the problem is nationwide, it hits particularly close to home for western Canadian hog producers.
“Wild boar at-large are one of the most destructive invasive species on the planet,” said Megan Evans, Executive Director, Alberta Invasive Species Council (AISC). “I think all Albertans should be concerned about them – farmers in particular. There’s a lot at risk when it comes to these populations.”
Apart from the damage done to wildlife, crops and the environment, wild boar pose a risk of potentially spreading diseases like African Swine Fever (ASF).
ASF could leave us SOL
“For the ag industry, the spread of a reportable disease in a barn or processing plant is a scary prospect,” said Evans. “It would be devastating, however, to see such an outbreak in a wild boar population that we can’t easily control.”
In a worst-case scenario, the presence of ASF on a hog farm would have massive implications for the trade of Canadian pork. In response, Animal Health Canada has developed a surveillance tool called CanSpotASF, a national surveillance program for the early detection of ASF in Canada.
“The goal of this tool is to detect ASF early on and help in proving to our trade partners – through testing – that Canadian pork is free of the disease,” said McElwain.
While it’s common to think that wild boar invaded Alberta and other provinces from the south, the truth is much closer to home.
“This problem began in the 1980s when governments encouraged farmers to diversify their livestock,” said Hannah McKenzie, Wild Boar Specialist, Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation. “We soon realized that these animals are hard to contain and, contrary to the prevailing wisdom, can survive our harsh winters.”
To combat the problem, the Government of Alberta launched a bounty program in 2003 that was delivered by municipalities throughout the province to incentivize the killing of wild boar.
“We learned the hard way that wild boar are a challenging species to address,” said McKenzie. “They reproduce quickly, are highly intelligent and adapt rapidly to any kind of pressure.”
Hunting for answers
With hunting, for example, they are able to recognize the danger and change their behavior to become more wary of external threats.
“I must stress that recreational hunting is not an effective control measure for wild boar eradication,” said Charlotte Shipp, Industry Programs Manager, Alberta Pork. “Hunting can be a fun activity, but it actually makes the problem worse by causing the animals to scatter when they hear gunshots. The areas where we have had pressure from hunting contain some of the most difficult wild boar to capture, because they are now very well educated when it comes to human activity.”
In an alternative approach, the Government of Alberta created the Wild Boar Control Program, similar to the province’s strategy in combatting rats, which included expanded monitoring and professional trapping of wild boar, as well as crop insurance to mitigate the damage they cause.
When it comes to battling wild boar, it really does take a village. For their part, AISC adopted the ‘Squeal on Pigs!’ campaign that was started by invasive species authorities in the U.S., to raise awareness of the problem. The program encourages the public to report wild boar sightings.
At present, the focus in Alberta is on detection and removal of these interlopers, an effort driven largely by Alberta Pork.
“We have solid elimination efforts in place and scaled up our efforts this summer by doubling our staff of eradication specialists from two to four,” said Shipp. “In collaboration with Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation, we also hosted Canada’s first wild boar training session for our new hires. As part of this training focus, Alberta Pork reached out to several municipalities throughout the province and instructed their problem wildlife specialists, as well as training trappers from a number of Indigenous groups. The instruction has really increased the resources and knowledge base in Alberta around the trapping and eradication of wild boar.”
A captive audience
Work on wild boar is bearing fruit, with three captures reported by Alberta Pork in recent months. Traditionally, harvest season can be a tough time of year to target these animals, as food is abundant with crops coming off the field, and the flurry of activity on farms tends to scatter the creatures.
“Given the timing, we are very excited by these captures and what this could mean for the months ahead,” said Shipp.
Next up in the boar war is a collaring project in partnership with the University of Calgary, where GPS collars are carefully attached to the animals as a means of tracking their movement. As with any species, the priority of male feral pigs is searching for females, so following boars could really pay off in the end.
Though numbers can be hard to come by with these elusive creatures, some current figures bode well for the pork sector.
“To date, we have captured 458 wild boar,” said Shipp. “That includes 63 from our initial pilot project and 395 that were snagged by Alberta Pork’s eradication specialists. I’m looking forward to what may come this winter with our expanded team and hoping to see those numbers climb.”
Part of growing that total involves harnessing technology such as drones and cameras. By setting up a bank of cameras in a small area, users can better understand wild boar populations and how they are distributed in the province.
“The habitat favored by these animals is one that features food and shelter, and that tends to be agricultural zones where there are bushes and crops,” said McKenzie. “Our main problem spot is north-central Alberta and the zone around Highway 16, coming in at Lloydminster, through the parkland region, and up towards Mayerthorpe and Whitecourt. We’ve also had wild boar established for some time in the Lac St. Anne area.”
Another approach involves the use of remotely monitored corral traps – a highly effective method of controlling and catching large groups of wild boar. Composed of utility panels, square mesh and steel posts, they are usually designed as a circular trap, preventing captured animals from piling into corners and escaping over the top.
“When you factor in the reproductive capacity of a pregnant wild boar sow over a few years, removing an entire group is tremendous; it’s a huge win,” said Evans.
Winning the boar battle
As the battle continues, there are some steps that could help the ‘good guys’ in the war on wild boar. For example, there are currently no provincial prohibitions on new wild boar farms in Alberta. Unless you live in a municipality that has enacted a bylaw to ban such farms, you are free to open one, potentially adding to the problem for industry.
“That is definitely a problem in my mind,” said Evans. “The lack of a prohibition is low-hanging fruit that should be addressed as soon as possible.”
Though there is currently strong collaboration throughout the industry on this issue, more is always better.
“I think it will help to have a more coordinated approach nationally, which is what we’re working to build through the National Wild Pig Leadership Group,” said McElwain. “At present, all the reporting goes through different channels, so when someone calls in a sighting, it can be quite resource intensive to identify where the pig is, determine if it was actually a wild boar, and collect samples where possible.”
Given the potential implications of ASF reaching our country, McElwain views streamlining the process as critical for demonstrating that Canadian domestic pigs are not infected with the disease if a case should ever be reported here in wild boar. It could also aid in finding any cases quickly and containing them.
“I’m heartened to see that when it comes to preventing and preparing for ASF in Canada, we have had unprecedented collaboration among Animal Health Canada, provincial and territorial governments, the livestock and meat industries and, most recently, the National Wild Pig Leadership Group,” said McElwain.
Work is also ongoing with groups like the Canadian Council on Invasive Species, the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative and other organizations, including Indigenous groups.
“Together, we are starting to raise awareness of how important it is to manage wild pig populations,” said McElwain. “Because they are an invasive species, elements such as prevention, preparedness and surveillance are vital and continue to be a priority for our animal health stakeholders nationwide.”
Of course, there are no checkpoints asking wild boar for ID and turning them back at provincial borders, so this is truly a national dilemma.
Better together
“We certainly work closely with other provinces, especially Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as they encountered wild boar around the same time as we did, and have been through the same process,” said McKenzie. “As well, they have similar climates. We try and share what has been working in each province and what could be done differently. Although everyone knows their own province best, we all struggle with the same thing: wild boar are here, they reproduce quickly and they are a challenging species to control.”
Given those challenges, Albertans are encouraged to report any wild boar sightings to the authorities as soon as possible. You can report sightings through EDDMapS, by calling 310-3276 (FARM) or by filling out the ‘Report Wild Boar’ form on the Government of Alberta’s website.
There is still much work to be done in getting a solid grasp of numbers and the full extent of the threat. When it comes to wild boar management, however, Alberta has been a leader and was the first province to develop a formal control program.
“We don’t yet have an abundance of data, but there is considerable research underway,” said Evans. “The synergies created by government, academia, Alberta Pork and other organizations is beautiful to see, and it bodes well for the future.”
