A Team Approach To Combat Wild Pigs

Thursday, July 25, 2024

While Each Province Has A Different Strategy, They Share A Common Enemy And Goal.

By Geoff Geddes

Wild pigs are no laughing matter.

They threaten the environment, destroy pastures, eat crops, and, oh yes, they could also be carrying a fatal pig disease.

Since spreading from Europe and Asia to North America, wild pigs have been wreaking havoc across Canada. While the problem is a source of pain for farmers, the nationwide response should be a source of pride.

“We have a 10-year strategy that involves working with industry groups and governments to combat the issue,” explains Colleen McElwain, executive director of Animal Health Canada. “One of our chief concerns is the potential for wild pigs to contract African Swine Fever and transmit it to commercial pigs, which could potentially close borders for trade for Canadian producers.”

The strategies include tracking wild pigs to establish a baseline, raising awareness of the need to report sightings, and offering advice on removing them from your area.

Central to these efforts is collaborating with the Canadian Council on Invasive Species, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and provincial pork boards on a united front.

No ‘I’ in ‘team’

This team approach was on full display at the recent Wild Pig Summit in Brandon, MB. Organized by Animal Health Canada’s Emergency Management division, along with Assiniboine Community College and Squeal on Pigs! Manitoba/Manitoba Pork, the event aimed to spotlight the problem of wild pigs in relation to ASF and share best practices on combating them.

Canada is also engaging with other countries to find solutions. In 2019, 150 leaders and decision-makers from government and industry from 15 countries met in Ottawa to share their expertise and generate ideas for dealing with wild pigs and the threat of ASF. Together, they crafted a framework around international collaboration on preparedness planning, improved biosecurity, business continuity, and coordinated risk communications.

Frequent fliers?

“When we look at how ASF has been moving in Eastern Europe, there are two main routes of transmission,” says Dr. Egan Brockhoff, veterinary counsellor for the Canadian Pork Council (CPC). “One is between commercial herds, and the other is from wild pigs to those herds. Right now, for the latter to happen in Canada, wild pigs would have to get on a plane and fly here, which seems unlikely. But given the stakes, and the other damage wrought by wild pigs, we have to take them seriously.”

Complicating the problem further is that wild pigs are notoriously hard to find, contain and control, and even harder to eradicate. With that in mind, some provinces looked south for a solution and found it in the Squeal on Pigs! campaign implemented in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The program uses an Early Detection Rapid Response approach where the public can report sightings to a phone line and direct organizers to their location.

“The concept was fantastic, so Canada began introducing it at the provincial level with support from the Canadian Pork Council (CPC), provincial pork boards and provincial governments,” says Brockhoff. “It is a really useful tool to pinpoint wild pig locations in a region and work on containing and eradicating them.”

Alberta was the first province to implement a Squeal on Pigs! campaign in 2020.

The truth is out there

“Awareness underpins everything, so it’s very important that the public knows wild pigs are out there and the damage they can cause to commercial pigs and crops. Our provincial control effort has been very successful, as reports of these intruders have nearly doubled since it began,” says Megan Evans, executive director of the Alberta Invasive Species Council.

The Alberta approach is a shining example of collaboration, including Alberta Pork, the Government of Alberta, the University of Alberta, University of Calgary (U of C), King’s College and Elk Island National Park.

“We hired a couple of eradication specialists and engaged landowners and municipalities on the best way to trap wild boars (Alberta uses “wild boars” instead of “wild pigs” in keeping with provincial legislation),” says Charlotte Shipp, industry programs manager with Alberta Pork. “Thus far we have captured 409 wild boars, and the U of C is working to give us a sense of the current picture.”

Alberta Pork recently worked with the Province to secure more funding for an eradication method that can be easily scaled up. They are looking at different types of traps and technology, and placing cameras to track the local population of wild boars and gauge the impact of eradication efforts.

The organization is also working through the U of C to provide memory cards to commercial producers so they can take images of any sightings and send them in.

“The program is only as good as the human witness reports, so we want to facilitate reporting as much as possible,” says Shipp.

Anyone spotting a wild boar is encouraged to call 310-FARMS or email wildboar@gov.ab.ca. Alberta Pork follows up on every report and engages with witnesses to understand exactly what they saw and where.

Ready, aim, shoot! (with a camera)

In Manitoba, the Squeal on Pigs! movement began in 2022 with funding from the Manitoba Pork Council, the Manitoba government and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC).

“We’ve pulled together a team of four, including three part-time field technicians and a field manager,” explains Dr. Wayne Lees, a veterinarian and coordinator of Squeal on Pigs! Manitoba.

Via a large-scale media campaign, the program blanketed Manitoba with print and radio ads to raise public awareness of wild pigs and the multitude of problems they pose.

“Apart from damaging the landscape and threatening commercial herds with a host of diseases, they also get into stored feed, eat foods like acorns that other animals rely on, and consume ground-nesting birds,” says Lees. “I even saw a video where they carried off a deer fawn, so it’s clear they will eat almost anything.”

As in Alberta, the program encourages public reports of wild pigs through the website www.squealonpigsmb.org or the toll-free number 1-833-SPOT-PIG. That triggers a process in which Squeal on Pigs! Manitoba contacts landowners in the vicinity and sets up a baiting area with a trail camera. If wild pigs show up on the camera, organizers set a trap with the goal of capturing the entire herd.

“We really engage landowners in our efforts by giving them access to our cameras on their cellphones,” says Lees. “Once we trap pigs, the owners can remove them or spread more bait for us if needed.

“In this way, we can cover the southern half of Manitoba, which is the problem region, with a small field team.”

Producers are encouraged to visit www.squealonpigsmb.org, where they can view a map of wild pig sightings, reports from the last couple of years and photos of the damage caused by these creatures. Most importantly, they can complete an online reporting form and submit it directly through the website, where it is then viewed by field staff.

The aim’s the same

While each province has a different approach to the problem, they share a common enemy and goal.

“Alberta and Manitoba have very similar Squeal on Pigs! campaigns, while the approaches in Saskatchewan and B.C. are slightly different,” reports Brockhoff.

“That diversity reflects the unique nature of each province’s regulatory framework, financial supports and constraints, and available resources in terms of trapping and removal.”

The existence of formal campaigns in the Prairie provinces makes sense given that all three have known wild pig populations.

In Ontario and Quebec, where governments are not aware of any current herds, the public is asked to contact the ministry of agriculture in each province with any sighting.

Just as collaboration has played a huge role in combating wild pigs to date, it will remain a crucial part of success going forward.

“I would like to see information about wild pigs assembled in one place so we can establish a national baseline,” says Colleen McElwain.

“That will help inform the conversation among the provinces, provincial pork associations and conservation agencies, as well as Indigenous groups, who are key stakeholders in this issue.”

All of those entities hold some information about the problem, so this will help Animal Health Canada to gauge where we are at when it comes to monitoring and trapping wild pig populations.

“Any time we make changes around trapping or reporting, having these groups connected sheds some light on whether we are actually reducing the numbers and what else we can do on that front,” explains McElwain.

“We really need aggregate information so we can find ways to be innovative and take the right approach in the years to come.”

The cooperation among the provincial governments, Ottawa and pig organizations is unprecedented, according to McElwain.

That approach has accelerated the process of combatting wild pigs and preventing ASF from reaching our borders.

Keeping up to track them down

In spite of their size, wild pigs can move quickly, so those that are targeting the animals must keep pace.

“We hope to have a new early detection tool in our surveillance program in the near future,” says McElwain. “We also want to foster even more communication among those affected.”

Though there is much written about wild pigs, it’s important to separate fact from fiction to avoid alarm.

“A lot of media have sensationalized the matter, even calling the creatures ‘super pigs’,” says Lees.

“It’s unfortunate to have them labelled that way, as they don’t have capes and can’t fly or leap tall buildings in a single bound; that said, they are very hardy and intelligent.

“Our goal is to eliminate them from every province, and it might take a decade, but I think we can do it.” BP