Wild Pigs A Problem

Last fall, cattle feedlot owner Jordan Kowal found part of his canola field gone—a strip down the centre, completely shredded. It reminded him that a section of his cow pasture had recently been trashed, too—left a mess of upturned soil and grass roots, as if a drunkard had taken a rototiller on a joyride. Kowal knew who the culprits were. The oinkers had returned.

The rancher has been seeing wild pigs come through the woods near his farm in Crooked River, Sask., for 15 years. The problem has become worse in the last five years, like it has throughout the Prairies. “I see them in the middle of the night—all of a sudden, you’ll see eyes looking at you. Shine truck lights at them and they scatter.” Once, Kowal’s kids were playing in the yard and a few piglets came running at them. The children left before the mother could come with her bearlike ferocity. “They’re pretty vicious animals,” Kowal says. “We’ve shot at some before, and they’ll keep coming at you if you don’t get out of the way.”

Feral swine are considered to be among the world’s worst invasive species—they destroy crops, befoul riverbanks and have spread a dreaded pig disease throughout Europe. They multiply rapidly (six per litter, once or twice a year) and are remarkably hard to kill. And they’re on the march in Canada.

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