BRANDON — The Manitoba government will invest $2.6 million over the next four years to track and capture wild pigs, which are a menace to farmers and people alike.
Representatives from Animal Health Canada, Assiniboine Community College, Squeal on Pigs Manitoba and Manitoba Pork made the announcement Tuesday at the first Canadian Wild Pig Summit in Brandon.
Wild pigs threaten animal, environmental and human health, said Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn, who spoke at the summit. The Squeal on Pigs program, he said, takes critical, proactive measures to protect Manitoba’s pork industry.
“These pigs pose a risk to production, animals and crop health and to our wildlife and landscape,” Kostyshyn said. “As we all know, wild pigs are really tough to get rid of. They are a challenge to our landscape and for potential spread of diseases.”
The $2.6 million will be part of the Squeal on Pigs program as part of the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, which will provide funding to the agriculture sector until 2028.
“It takes dollars to make a program continue to be successful,” Kostyshyn said.
Wild pigs became established in Manitoba after they were brought here from Europe in the 1980s during an agricultural livestock diversification initiative, the province’s website says.
The free-ranging wild boar population that’s wreaking havoc across the province is a result of escaped farm animals and their offspring. They destroy wildlife habitat, damage crops, threaten people and spread disease, said Dr. Wayne Lees, project co-ordinator of Squeal on Pigs Manitoba.
“Together with our partners in both the provincial and federal governments, as well as Manitoba’s agricultural sector and stakeholders across the province, this new funding will allow us to further our efforts to track, trap and remove wild pigs from the landscape and protect our province,” he said.
The funding will help to identify where wild pigs exist in Manitoba, work to control the spread of their population and remove as many pigs as possible. To do so, the program works with field technicians and landowners who undertake tracking and trapping of wild pigs with the help of partners in the industry.
Kostyshyn applauded Animal Health Canada, Assiniboine Community College and Manitoba Pork for bringing people together for the summit to work on the best possible solutions to the problem.
“It is great to see you bring in and adopt new methods of this program. These methods ensure that … resources go to the right place at the right time,” Kostyshyn said. “It’s good to see so many people from across Canada working together to solve the complex problem that does exist.”
Kostyshyn committed the government to continue to work with Squeal on Pigs and industry partners to ensure that one day, Manitoba’s wild pig population will be eradicated.
“I don’t think any one of us would ever think that this was a session or conversation we would have five years ago or 10 years ago, but the reality is, it is here,” he said. “This is probably one session of many to come, given the challenges that we want to avoid in the long run with wild pigs.”
Manitobans can help the fight against wild pigs by reporting sightings or signs of their activity through squealonpigsmb.org or by calling 1-833-SPOT-PIG. Wild pigs should not be hunted, Manitoba Pork said, as that can cause the population to spread out and harm trapping efforts.
— Brandon Sun