'They're becoming a problem': Wild boar overpopulation an ongoing concern for Sask. municipalities

More than 60 southern Saskatchewan communities are suffering from overpopulation of invasive wild boars, according to the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM).

SARM is warning of the potential impacts the invasive species can have on Saskatchewan’s ecosystems and economy.

“To this day, wild boar have free reign of rural Saskatchewan land with no predators keeping the population in check,” said SARM president Ray Orb, in a news release.

“Each year, the risk of transferable disease grows between domestic hogs. We can’t ignore the damaging financial and environmental impact wild boars leave in their wake any longer.”

Ryan Brook, associate professor college of agriculture and bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan, has been tracking and researching wild boars in Canada for about 10 years.

Brook said the number of overpopulated communities grow when you expand to the rest of the province.

“We have documented wild pigs in 80 per cent of the 296 rural municipalities in Saskatchewan,” Brook said. “I will say that is almost certainly an underestimate.”

SARM said the invasive species, which are fast, have sharp tusks and can weigh over 200 pounds, roams regularly through crops, golf courses and native land.

The pigs are nocturnal and are also easily able to handle Saskatchewan’s harsh winters.

“This is an important issue,” Orb said. “These animals are expanding, they’re becoming a problem. They are damaging not only crop land, but they are damaging pasture land too. They can spread disease to the domestic hog barns.”

Wild boar came to Saskatchewan in the late 1970s as domestic livestock. Over time, many escaped and reproduced at a rapid pace.

Brook said in 2001 there was also a market crash that caused a lot of wild boar farms to close down.

“Unfortunately in many cases here in Saskatchewan, they cut the fence and let the pigs go,” Brook added. “That’s where it started to become a problem and they started to become established in the wild.”

In 2016 Wildlife Regulations were amended to allow hunters the opportunity to hunt feral wild boars year-round without a license.

“That has helped, but still we can’t have any more farms because the problem will get worse,” Orb stated.

SARM is calling for moratoriums on wild boar farming to prevent the problem from getting worse.

“Wild boar are difficult to hunt, it takes many hours and significant effort to track these animals. The time is imminent for a collaborative, long-term solution to be realized with our provincial government,” Orb said.

Orb believes this topic will be popular at the SARM convention and bear pit sessions. The convention is planned for March 15-17 at the Queensbury Convention Centre in Regina.

The Ministry of Agriculture told CTV News it is aware SARM has called for a moratorium and will consider the request.

In a statement the ministry said “the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC) is responsible for the delivery of Saskatchewan’s wild boar control program.”

It added through funding from the ministry, the SCIC helps coordinate qualified hunters, trappers and landowners to investigate sightings and take appropriate action to deal with the wild boars.

“In the last two years, the SCIC has paid $47,000 in crop damage directly related to 13 wild boar claims. The five-year average compensation due to wildlife is approximately $25 million," it said. 

The province said any wild boar sightings should be reported to the SCIC.