Wild boar that escape from captivity will soon be as welcome in Alberta as the Norway rat.
On May 31, wild boar at large in the province will be declared pests, the same as the rat, and the onus will be on landowners to control them, said Floyd Mullaney of Alberta Agriculture.
Mullaney estimated more than 200 wild boar have escaped from farms in Alberta and quickly learned to survive in thick patches of willows, creeks and along the banks of rivers. Once they’ve become established in an area they are difficult to eradicate.
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“The best you can do is control them,” said Mullaney.
Wild boars were introduced to prairie farms in the 1990s as agriculture diversification projects.
Grant McLean, a crop management specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture, said escaped wild boars haven’t been declared a pest in that province, but attempts have been made to reduce their population.
“They are wily,” said McLean.
Hunting may work for the first five, but not for the next 50 when the nocturnal creatures become even more elusive, he said.
“They reproduce faster than you can shoot them,” said McLean.
Cameron Wilk with the field services branch of Saskatchewan Agriculture said wild boars are considered an invasive species and money is earmarked to control the animals.
“If you see a feral wild boar, and you have the landowner’s permission, you can shoot and destroy them,” said Wilk.
In Moose Mountain Provincial Park, during a three-year harvest program, hunters shot 98 the first year, 95 the second and more than 30 the third year.
Wilk estimates there are about 1,000 feral wild boars in the province.
“They’re very difficult to hunt,” he said.
Once the animals are spooked, they often aren’t seen again for six to eight weeks.
“The greater the hunting pressure, the more elusive and smart they become.”
Wilk said wild boar have caused cattle to stampede and cows to abort. The boar love to gorge themselves in fields of grain.
In Alberta, wild boars were dealt with under the Stray Animal Act, where landowners report sightings of animals to local officials. Unlike cattle and horses, wild boar proved harder to round up and return to their owners.
Now that wild boar have been declared pests, landowners must control the animals. If the landowner doesn’t control the animals, it’s up to the county or municipality to control them and bill the landowner. The province will step in if the county fails to control them, said Mullaney.
