Public encouraged to help eradicate feral pigs by reporting sightings
By Bruce Cochrane, Farmscape
The General Manager of Sask Pork says the biggest contribution the public can make to the effort to eliminate feral pigs from the environment is to report sightings.
The Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation administers the province's Feral Wild Boar Control Program and operates the PIG SPOT hotline. Mark Ferguson, General Manager of Sask Pork, noted wild boar have been identified as major problem, not just in Canada but around the world.
“They damage crops and ecosystems and also are a reservoir for swine diseases and can make it virtually impossible to eradicate these diseases as we've seen in Europe with African Swine Fever so it's a major issue. The animals are not native to Saskatchewan. The only reason they are here in the wild is because they were either released or escaped from farms from the 1990s or early 2000s when there were more farms in the area that had wild boar,” explained Sask Pork’s Mark Ferguson.
“In terms of government and industry and wildlife groups, everyone agrees it's wise to get ahead of this issue before it becomes larger in Saskatchewan. That's the main reason that we are asking the public to report sightings. The biggest contribution the public can make is to report sightings of wild boar. Crop Insurance has a trapping program when, when we can figure out where a sounder may be located, they will in with traps and remove those animals. The biggest thing about wild boar is they are very elusive and they live in areas where there aren't a lot of people around so when there are enough sightings in a certain area, it really helps Saskatchewan Crop Insurance to understand where the sounders may be located and allocate the resources to remove them,” added Ferguson.
Ferguson noted that farmers, outdoorsmen and the public can report feral pig sightings by calling or texting the toll-free hot line at 1-888-935-0000 or by calling any Saskatchewan Crop Insurance office.
For more visit farmscape.ca.