Alberta imposes new restrictions on hunting, rearing ‘incredibly destructive’ wild boars
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As of December 1, feral pigs have been declared “a pest in all circumstances” by the Alberta government, meaning new restrictions have been imposed on keeping them in captivity and hunting them in the wild.
It is now illegal to possess, buy, sell, obtain or transport wild boars without a permit in Alberta. It also means no new wild boar farms will be allowed in the province.
Hunting and trapping of feral pigs is also prohibited in Alberta, except when landowners or occupiers kill the animals on their own land. Any person who kills a wild boar must now report the date, place and number of boars killed to the province as soon as possible.
Hannah McKenzie, the province’s wild boar expert, says the changes were made due to the threats posed by existing feral boar populations and the risks associated with more people escaping from captivity.
“In addition to causing harm to agriculture and the environment, feral pigs pose a serious risk of transmitting and spreading exotic animal diseases, including African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease,” McKenzie said. “And these will have a broad financial impact on the pork industry and the larger livestock industry and our trading relationships.”
The term “wild boar” refers to the Eurasian wild pig, or the hybrid between that animal and the domestic pig. They were introduced to the Prairies to be raised as livestock in the late 20th century, after which some were able to establish feral populations throughout Canada, but primarily in the Prairie provinces.
“As they spread and become a bigger threat, we’ve seen other provinces And Court Make changes to your wild boar management to address disease and business risks,” McKenzie said.
Ontario pork producers have had to phase out Eurasian wild pigs from their livestock due to a provincial ban that took effect Jan. 1. Hans Lindenman, a pork producer in eastern Ontario, said he’s unsure what’s next for him, as those feral pigs make up half of his business.
McKenzie said the province is currently working with 12 wild boar farms in Alberta, but there may be more.
Those farms have the choice to either keep their wild pigs in harsh conditions, or receive compensation from the province and exit the industry. The province is offering to pay $590 per pig, along with per-linear-foot compensation for fencing.
McKenzie said the program is estimated to cost about $2.6 million. The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation allocated $3 million for wild boar management in this year’s provincial budget.
‘Difficult’ situation for pork industry
Alberta pork industry program manager Charlotte Shipp says the rules are a “challenging issue” for the organization.
“Wild hog producers are also producers of Alberta pork, so it’s a tough situation to be in,” he said.
Shipp said tightening restrictions around wild boar farming, especially when it comes to preventing escapes and the potential spread of African swine fever, and offering exit incentives to wild boar producers are steps in the right direction.
“I think our government has a challenging path to take to balance that risk to the industry (while) making sure they can remain vibrant parts of productive rural communities,” Shipp said.
African swine fever is harmless to humans but can devastate pig populations. There was an outbreak of this disease among wild pigs reported last week Spain, one of the largest pork producers in the European Union.
difficult to control population
It’s difficult to keep track of how many pigs there are in the province or exactly where they are, McKenzie said.
“They are very difficult to survey,” he said, adding that traditional methods such as aerial surveys are not as effective because the pigs are more active at night and prefer densely forested habitats where it is difficult for planes to see them.
Ryan Brook, a University of Saskatchewan professor who studies Canada’s invasive wild boars, has long been a proponent of stricter regulations around feral boar management.
“They really are incredibly destructive,” he said. “They destroy the environment because, unlike many of our native wildlife, wild boars actually tear up the ground, a process called rooting.”
Saskatchewan is prohibiting new feral pig farms and placing restrictions on existing operations. The new regulations for existing farms include more monitoring, annual inspections and required fencing. Experts say it’s too little, too late.
The lack of sweat glands also drives them to wetlands to cool off, where invasive species pollute the water with various diseases, Brook said.
“Sport hunting has been banned, which I’ve certainly been talking about and begging for for over 15 years,” Brooks said.
It may seem counterintuitive to ban hunting of a species the province is trying to eradicate, but Brooks said there is no evidence that sport hunting has reduced wild boar populations. That’s partly because the animals breed relatively frequently and produce large numbers of offspring, an average of two litters of six piglets per year, he said.
“Unfortunately, hunting not only doesn’t eliminate them quickly… but it breaks up groups and disperses them across the landscape, because very few hunters will actually be able to remove entire populations,” Brooks said.
