Below current occurences all across Canada, as of May 11th, covering 1 million square kilometers. As Dr. Brook stated that is bigger then most Countries.

Those who would downplay the impact of feral pigs on the Canadian Prairies need to take a closer look at the lessons of history, say speakers invited to attend an online update.
On May 11, the Alberta Invasive Species Council invited five people with a vested interest in feral pigs to lay down some background and provide updates on the status within their respective areas of interest: 
– Michael J. Bodenchuk, Texas State Director, USDA APHIS WS 
– Dr. Ryan Brook, Associate Professor, University of Saskatchewan 
– Charlotte Shipp, Industry Programs Manager, Alberta Pork 
– Dawn Fortin, Manager Agriculture Services, Woodlands County 
– Jurgen Preugschas, Alberta Producer, former chair of Alberta Pork and Canadian Pork Council. 
Speakers agreed in general that the problem may be underestimated and that the unchecked spread of feral pigs is extremely expensive on multiple fronts, including but not limited to the damage they cause to crops and natural areas as well as their ability to spread disease, destroy habitat and kill other animals, both wild and domestic. 
The potential for an economic disaster in the event of a foreign animal disease outbreak may be at the peak of concern among Alberta’s pork producers, but it’s not their only worry. 
Shipp said there may have been a bit of arrogance within the pork industry concerning the European wild boars introduced in a rural diversification program during the 1980s, including a belief that escapees would not survive a harsh Alberta winter. 
“Man, have they ever taught us a few things,” she said. 
It is now understood that feral pigs – whether they be domestic pigs that have escaped; European wild boar that have either escaped or been released, or the larger and more fertile hybrids of the two – cope very well with Canada’s harsh winters and have the potential to devastate the nation’s pork industry. 
Preugschas said he warned against the introduction of wild boars into Canadian farms, largely because of the potential for escapees to run amok and create a health hazard for domestic pig producers. He related the story of a neighbouring farmer who had developed a herd of wild boars, and then boasted after the market collapsed of cutting off their ear tags, opening the gates and letting them go free. He said he would finally be able to hunt wild boar, as he had done in the old country. 
“I was quite concerned at the time as a director on Alberta Pork and brought it up on several occasions and also to government that they needed to nip this in the bud,” said Preugschas. 
The common response was that there was nothing to worry about, he said.  
Thankfully, that has changed. 
“I am really happy that now, albeit way too late, we are finally trying to do something about it.” 
He said all levels of government in Western Canada need to push harder for eradication of wild pigs, not just to protect the pork industry but for the sake of all livestock producers. Although African Swine Fever may be the most immediate threat, the feral pigs also have the potential to carry foot and mouth disease, which would close borders to exports and cause destruction of thousands of livestock animals, including beef and dairy cattle. 
He offered congratulations to AFSC for its recent announcement that Alberta farmers can now be compensated for crop damages caused by feral pigs.

Like the wildlife compensation program, farmers can be compensated regardless of whether they have purchased insurance from AFSC. Unlike the regular wildlife program, farmers seeking compensation may not hunt or invite others to hunt feral pigs on their property. Rather, they are required to report sightings to the provincial wild boar specialist with Alberta Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development (AAFRED). Further, they must allow AAFRED access to the affected property for implementation of a control strategy. 
Alberta recently added a second contractor to its team of specialists hired to track and capture feral pigs. 
Uncanny in its ability to learn hazards and pass its education down to new generations, the elusive feral pig becomes even more wary and more difficult to capture when it has come under fire. Shooting one pig scatters the rest, and the survivors become that much more elusive as a result, said Brook. The most effective means of control is the capture and destruction of entire sounders, with the exception being the employment of a Judas female to help root out other groups, he said. In that exception, one of the captured females is fitted with a radio collar, and then released and tracked while she seeks out others of her kind. 
Brook shared some stagering numbers: on average they have received 4.4 new wild pig occurences every single day over the past five years, he has over 60,000 unique occurences in his database with 58% of them in the last five years.
Despite recent announcements that some Alberta counties are now offering bounties for the destruction of feral pigs, the speakers were adamant in their opposition to hunting as an option for controlling the animals. 
Alberta’s original bounty program, discontinued in 2017, helped to show where the pigs were roaming and motivated some landowners to hunt them, but was not successful in getting the problem under control, said Fortin. 
Woodlands County – a hot spot for feral pigs – is not eligible for the revamped bounty program because it participates with AAFRED and Alberta Pork in the whole-sounder capture program, she said. 
There remains one farm within the county who is allowed to continue producing European wild boars under strict confinement protocol and subject to annual inspection by county staff. 
Opening the session with his story about what has happened in Texas, Bodenchuk warned that Canada does not want to ignore those lessons. 
He said seeing the aftermath of a vehicle strike is almost a daily occurrence in his 60-kilometre commute to work. Loose pigs on a highway are particularly dangerous at night because their eyes do not reflect light, making them much more difficult to see than a deer. He told of a woman who was killed in a head-on collision when she lost control of her vehicle and drove across the median after striking a feral pig. 
Bodenchuk cited recent research indicating that agriculture in Texas is losing more than $500 million US per year to feral pigs, including porcine predation of smaller animals such as goat kids and damage to crops, fencing and machinery. 

A model that Mike Bodenchuk created, illustrating how fast the numbers can erupt in his words.


He went on to describe the extensive research and control methods Texas has used in its attempts to get control of its hordes of wild pigs, and then offered that experience as a warning to those who would ignore the lessons of history. 
“I hope that gives you a picture of what might be the worst case for you guys if in fact you allow pigs to become established,” said Bodenchuk. 
A recording of the full presentation is available via the Squeal On Pigs page on the Alberta Invasive Species Council website. Open abinvasives.ca/squel-on-pigs and look for the video toward the bottom of the page. 
Anyone who sees feral pigs or finds damage they may have created is encouraged to contact the wild boar specialist at AAFRED. A sightings map and contact details are available on the same web page mentioned above. •
— By Brenda Kossowan


Note: On May 29th CBC reported that wild pigs have been
spotted in the town of Lamont NE of Edmonton and just North of Elk Island Park where wild boar have been seen recently. The towns mayor issued a warning for residents to keep their distance from the wild animals. Cautioning to keep children nearby and dogs on a leash and to report any sightings to town office. Dr Ryan Brook is quoted in article without intervention “superpigs” could soon invade Alberta cities.
He added a all to familiar quote
“They’re the worst invasive wild large mammal on the planet.” •