WILD PIGS

Authorities are advising against hunting wild pigs, should you see any, as their removal is only effective if an entire group is eliminated. Any pigs that escape quickly learn to evade humans and become more difficult to eradicate. Ontario is asking you to report any wild pig sightings to wildpigs@ontario.ca or goto the ministry’s iNaturalist page.

Photo – Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario

Wild pig protocol

With so many nimrods taking to the turkey trail some are quite likely to encounter a wild pig; or pigs. Any pig outside an enclosure is a wild pig. Dr. Keith Munro, wildlife biologist with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters has written a very informative article in Ontario Out of Doors in its April 2021 edition concerning the damage that these feral pigs can inflict on the environment. The federation has done its research and created the OFAH Wild Pig Trail Camera Detection Protocol. Goto: www.ofah.org/wildpigs for instructions as to where to set up your trail camera, how to identify wild pig sign, how to make bait and where to report any sightings. Munro emphasizes that hunting the pigs is a bad idea for it just makes them smarter and more elusive. You may shoot one but it is soon replaced by many as these animals, to mix similes, breed like rabbits. They reach sexual maturity in six months and have litters twice a year, with around 10 piglets per litter. In Ontario, a wild pig can weigh up to 420 pounds.

According to Munro “the pork industry is terrified of African Swine Fever, just one of many diseases that wild pigs can carry, some of which can affect livestock, wildlife and people. … As more research is done on wild pigs, the list of their negative impacts just gets longer and longer.”

Wild pigs prey upon wild turkey nests. “Ontario’s hunting community invested a significant amount of money and countless volunteer hours in the successful reintroduction of wild turkeys and the threat of wild pigs in the province should ring the alarm bell.” (Munro)

 “The MNRF has the staff, equipment, and expertise to remove them.” Since January 2020, wild pig researchers have investigated 25 locations in southern and eastern Ontario, where 81 sightings of wild pigs were reported, according to Jolanta Kowalski, a spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. The ministry keeps track of sightings on its dedicated iNaturalist page.

Wild pig sightings can be reported to the Invasive Species hotline at 1-800-563-7711.