Prof says trapper's boar kill shows 'tsunami of wild pigs' is encroaching on northern Sask.

A wild boar killed above the tree line in north-central Saskatchewan is evidence feral pigs continue migrating across the Prairies and into the Boreal forest, says a professor who has studied the barrel-bodied beasts for decades.

"This has been a disaster in slow motion, and a tsunami of wild pigs has been moving from the south further and further north every year," said Ryan Brook, a University of Saskatchewan professor in the department of animal and poultry science.

Wild boars — or feral pigs — eat almost anything and are very adaptable to different habitats. They travel in groups called "sounders" and are known to be aggressive, destructive and hard to find given their nocturnal nature.

The encounter was first reported by news outlet larongeNow, which interviewed Montreal Lake Cree Nation member Jarret Nelson after his son shot a wild boar while they checked a trap line near Weyakwin, about 285 kilometres north of Saskatoon.

Brook said he spoke with Nelson and plans to visit Weyakwin on the weekend to meet locals and offer insight as head of the Canadian Wild Pig Research Project.

"These pigs continue to spread completely uncontrolled on the Canadian Prairies and certainly this is just another piece of evidence showing that uncontrolled spread," Brook said.

Wild boars are considered an invasive species that can cause a lot of damage and are notorious for destroying crops. In the north, wild boars could impact the food chain, from berry patches to large mammals, Brook said.

Brook called them "ecological train wrecks" with an indiscriminate appetite. 

"They'll eat small mammals like mice and other native small mammals," he said.

"They will eat eggs of any ground-nesting birds. They'll kill the adults if they can, which they often do. And they'll eat, in the spring, thousands of goslings and ducklings and other ground nesting birds. They'll kill anything up to and including an adult whitetail deer."

The sighting doesn't surprise trapper Barry Carriere, president of the Northern Saskatchewan Trappers Association. He said wild boars this far north are still rare, but there have been sporadic sightings is area around Nipawin for at least 15 years.

"They are very destructive and they reproduce really fast, you know, so if we don't do anything about them they are going to take over the North," Carriere said. 

He plans to raise the issue at the association's next annual general meeting this spring.

The province banned new wild boar farms as of Jan. 1 and imposed new rules on existing farms, including requirements for additional surveillance, improved record keeping and follow-ups for annual inspections. There were 15 wild boar farms in Saskatchewan as of July 2024, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Wild boars also spread diseases and contaminate water sources. In the U.S., the animals cause an estimated $2.5 billion US of damage annually.

It's not known how many pigs are living in the wild across the province, but the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC) received between 10 and 15 verified sightings per year over the last five years and has removed 1,000 pigs from the province since establishing the feral wild boar control program 2015.

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Wild boars were purposely crossbred with pink domestic pigs to make a larger animal with a faster reproductive rate. The barrel-like bodies of wild boars can weigh up to 300 pounds.

Their size and sharp tusks mean people should be careful when hiking in the back country, Brook said. He recommends carrying pepper spray, because feral pigs are known to charge and injure humans.

"If there are signs of pigs, certainly leave the area," Brook said. "In any encounter with the pig you should get out of that and into a vehicle or building as fast as you can."