n THE CARILLON STEINBACH, MAN. C2
n www.thecarillon.com THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2024
Wild pigs come in different sizes and colours, but are mostly brown or black with coarse, bristly hair. Males typically have larger heads and tusks.
Do farmers a favour and ’squeal’ on wild pigs
SQUEAL ON PIGS
get a handle on exactly how widespread it is Wild pigs are causing damage to the crops and the forest, eating acorns and causing a lot of destruction. In the 1980’s and 90’s there was a downturn in agriculture and people turned to wild boars to diversify their income, thinking there would be a market. When it turned out the public was not that interested, pigs either escaped or were let go and started to breed in the wild. A wild pig is considered to be any animal outside a fence. Eurasian boars will breed with domestic pigs and hybrids will produce eight or 10 weanlings, twice a year, causing an explo- sion in the wild pig population. Wild pigs carry diseases and present a risk to human safety, Lees explains. The public is warned these animals are pretty big and dan- gerous, and people should not take any chanc- es. A wild boar, when cornered, will charge. Tusks are very sharp and capable of causing serious injuries. The boars are quite large, up to 5 feet long, weighing over 250 pounds. The females stay with their piglets, but when she believes they are threatened she will charge as well. While, to date, the largest concentration of wild pig sightings have been in the Spruce Woods Park and southeast of Brandon, wild pigs are scattered all around the province. Domestic and pot-bellied pigs get away from property which is not fenced as well as it should be. Most sightings are of the Eurasian wild boar type, very hairy, with a long snout. Squeal on Pigs Manitoba relies on sighting reports so field people can contact landowners in the area and follow up with locating bait and setting traps. Working with landowners, who can choose to use the meat, animals are euthanized. Sam- ples are collected to be studied by the lab in Winnipeg. The idea is to reduce the population, but at the same time hunting wild pigs for sport is not encouraged. Hunting tends to scatter the wild pig population, making it harder for the Squeal on Pigs program to monitor the situa- tion and carry out trapping. There have been reports in the United States of people importing wild pigs, specifically so they can increase the population for hunting. What is disturbing about that practice, is that wild pigs will eat anything and compete with other wildlife for food, Lees said. “The question for hunters is whether they want to hunt deer or pigs, for in the long run they will not end up with both.” ’ There is a capture and removal program
by WES KEATING H unting wild boars for meat or trophy may be considered an exciting sport by some, but the damage caused by exploding numbers of wild pigs in Canada has prompted a nation-wide campaign to attempt to eradicate the dangerous and damage caus- ing animals. Each province has its own program to deal with the problem, but all share a common goal in asking the public to assist in their efforts and “Squeal on Pigs” to help field agents lo- cate, trap and destroy wild pigs. In 2022, Squeal on Pigs was launched as a nation-wide media campaign to alert the pub- lic about the problem. The animals were caus- ing damage to crops and the forest, and all-in- all, causing a lot of destruction and spreading disease to domestic livestock. Field agent Doug Lacombe, manning a Squeal on Pigs Manitoba display at the Key- stone Agriculture Producers annual meeting in Winnipeg, showed a skull from 250-pound boar and outlined some of the problems in getting a handle on the province-wide prob- lem. Drones are utilized and there are airplane surveys, but wild pigs are extremely difficult to control, as they move around a lot. Getting up- to-date data of the extent of the problem relies heavily on reported sightings by area landown- ers, who are seeing damage to their fields. Lacombe says he prefers having pictures to confirm any sighting, because sometimes the damage believed to be caused by wild pigs, could well be blamed on bears. Bears are likely to root at ant hills or around tree trunks, while wild pigs leave a field looking like it was ro- to-tilled. Maps of sightings, which are updated every three months, show the majority of wild pigs in Manitoba are located in Spruce Woods and areas southeast of Brandon. Years ago, there were a number of sightings in the La Broquerie area, but last fall there was just one, Lacombe said. Wayne Lees, who at one time was the prov- ince’s chief veterinary officer, is the co-ordina- tor for Squeal on Pigs Manitoba, and joined the program in its early development. He says he enjoys the challenge of getting a new pro- gram like this up and running. The attempt to reduce the population of wild pigs has been going on for a number of years, he said. Squeal on Pigs was launched as a media campaign to alert the public about the prob- lem and to get help in collecting data to try and
SQUEAL ON PIGS Green blocks on the latest Squeal on Pigs sightings map show how widespread the problem of wild pigs is in Manitoba. The red and orange blocks indicate the larger numbers seen in the Brandon area.
effort designed to provide essential informa- tion for outdoor pig producers. Squeal on Pigs has been distributing brochures to veterinary clinics and livestock supplies stores outlining a wide variety of topics from feeding to fencing, to shelters and raising pigs on pasture. For Squeal on Pigs, proper fencing is partic- ularly important as pigs are escape artists and it is vital to keep domestic pigs away from the wild pig population. Lees encourages the public to report sight- ings of wild pigs by either calling 1-833-SPOT- PIG toll free, or else to go directly to the web- site www.squealonpigsmb.org and click the tab to report a sighting. “We very much appreciate any information as to where wild pigs might be found.”
carried out in Manitoba with four field people covering areas from the Southeast to Brandon and to Swan River. Squeal on Pigs people will respond to sight- ings quickly, setting up traps and the map is refreshed every three months to keep wild pigs data up to date. The effectiveness of the program is reflected in the numbers, Lee said. “In 2022 there were 127 sightings and 122 pigs were removed. In 2023 there were 156 sightings and 90 wild pigs were caught and killed. Thirty-seven 37 escaped domestic pigs were captured and relocated.” Small pig operations are encouraged to use the internet resources available at www.smalls- calepigfarming.com which is a collaborative
WES KEATING THE CARILLON Doug Lacombe, an Eastern Manitoba field operations technician, with the skull of a 250-pound wild boar at the Squeal on Pigs Manitoba display during KAP’s annual meeting in January.
WES KEATING THE CARILLON Dropping by the Squeal on Pigs display is Reg Margidot, a landowner in the RM of Victoria, who has had problems with wild pigs causing damage in his corn.
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