Prof says trapper's boar kill shows 'tsunami of wild pigs' is encroaching on northern Sask.

Jeremy Warren · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 07, 2025 7:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

A chaotic boar killed above the histrion enactment successful north-central Saskatchewan is grounds feral pigs proceed migrating crossed the Prairies and into the Boreal forest, says a prof who has studied the barrel-bodied beasts for decades.

"This has been a catastrophe successful dilatory motion, and a tsunami of chaotic pigs has been moving from the southbound further and further northbound each year," said Ryan Brook, a University of Saskatchewan prof successful the section of carnal and poultry science.

Wild boars — or feral pigs — eat astir thing and are precise adaptable to antithetic habitats. They question successful groups called "sounders" and are known to beryllium aggressive, destructive and hard to find fixed their nocturnal nature.

The brushwood was archetypal reported by quality outlet larongeNow, which interviewed Montreal Lake Cree Nation subordinate Jarret Nelson aft his lad changeable a chaotic boar portion they checked a trap enactment adjacent Weyakwin, astir 285 kilometres northbound of Saskatoon.

Brook said helium spoke with Nelson and plans to sojourn Weyakwin connected the play to conscionable locals and connection penetration arsenic caput of the Canadian Wild Pig Research Project.

"These pigs proceed to dispersed wholly uncontrolled connected the Canadian Prairies and surely this is conscionable different portion of grounds showing that uncontrolled spread," Brook said.

Wild boars are considered an invasive taxon that tin origin a batch of harm and are notorious for destroying crops. In the north, chaotic boars could interaction the nutrient chain, from berry patches to ample mammals, Brook said.

Brook called them "ecological bid wrecks" with an indiscriminate appetite. 

"They'll devour tiny mammals similar mice and different autochthonal tiny mammals," helium said.

"They volition devour eggs of immoderate ground-nesting birds. They'll termination the adults if they can, which they often do. And they'll eat, successful the spring, thousands of goslings and ducklings and different crushed nesting birds. They'll termination thing up to and including an big whitetail deer."

The sighting doesn't astonishment trapper Barry Carriere, president of the Northern Saskatchewan Trappers Association. He said chaotic boars this acold northbound are inactive rare, but determination person been sporadic sightings is country astir Nipawin for astatine slightest 15 years.

"They are precise destructive and they reproduce truly fast, you know, truthful if we don't bash thing astir them they are going to instrumentality implicit the North," Carriere said. 

He plans to rise the contented astatine the association's adjacent yearly wide gathering this spring.

The state banned caller chaotic boar farms arsenic of Jan. 1 and imposed caller rules connected existing farms, including requirements for further surveillance, improved grounds keeping and follow-ups for yearly inspections. There were 15 chaotic boar farms successful Saskatchewan arsenic of July 2024, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Wild boars besides dispersed diseases and contaminate h2o sources. In the U.S., the animals origin an estimated $2.5 cardinal US of harm annually.

It's not known however galore pigs are surviving successful the chaotic crossed the province, but the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC) received betwixt 10 and 15 verified sightings per twelvemonth implicit the past 5 years and has removed 1,000 pigs from the state since establishing the feral chaotic boar power programme 2015.

Wild boars were purposely crossbred with pinkish home pigs to marque a larger carnal with a faster reproductive rate. The barrel-like bodies of chaotic boars tin measurement up to 300 pounds.

Their size and crisp tusks mean people should beryllium cautious erstwhile hiking successful the backmost country, Brook said. He recommends carrying capsicum spray, due to the fact that feral pigs are known to complaint and injure humans.

"If determination are signs of pigs, surely permission the area," Brook said. "In immoderate brushwood with the pig you should get retired of that and into a conveyance oregon gathering arsenic accelerated arsenic you can."