See a loose pig in B.C.? Officials want you to ‘squeal' on it
Have you seen a pig running loose anywhere in B.C.? If so, officials want you to squeal on that little porker.
That's the message of a new campaign from the Invasive Species Council of B.C., and while the framing is silly, the issue is no joke.
Feral pigs have become a massive global problem, damaging crops, ecosystems and infrastructure, posing a potential health hazard and, in some cases, getting aggressive with people.
The good news is that while feral pigs have become established in the United States and on the Canadian prairies, they haven't got a foothold in B.C. yet.
It's something the Invasive Species Council is looking to prevent.
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'We've seen the damage invasive pigs can cause in other provinces, and we have a real opportunity in B.C. to prevent that from happening here,' said Gail Wallin, executive director of the Invasive Species Council of B.C.
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'That's why we've launched this campaign — to raise awareness and remind people that their observations matter. Whether you're on the land every day or out for a weekend hike, early reporting of pigs on the land makes all the difference.'
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The Invasive Species Council says feral pigs are not known yet to be established in B.C., but that there have been more than three dozen confirmed sightings.
Invasive pigs can be Eurasian boars, domestic pigs, and hybrids that escaped, have been released, or were born in the wild. And they breed quickly. The Invasive Species Council says they're capable of producing two litters a year, with up to a dozen piglets per litter.
Ryan Brook, a professor of agriculture of agribusiness and bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan, said B.C. has a chance to get ahead of the problem.
He said the U.S. has an estimated population of 7 million feral pigs, who do an estimated $2.5 billion in crop damage every year.
There's no firm population estimate on the Canadian prairies, he said, but added they have 'spread like wildfire' and it's believed there have been more than 70,000 since the 1980s. Wild pigs have also been spotted in all provinces and at least one territory.
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'I think we really serve as a cautionary tale of in all kinds of ways, frankly, don't do what we get ahead of it sooner and avoid the catastrophe that we have underway right now,' he said.
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'They can spread diseases to humans, to pets, wildlife and livestock, but they can also be a public health nuisance. They can be dangerous, they do travel in groups we call 'sounders', and certainly we've seen aggressive behaviours.'
The health risk is one of the factors the Invasive Species Council is highlighting, warning that invasive pigs could become a reservoir for African swine fever if the disease makes its way to Canada.
The group is now urging anyone who sees pigs on the loose anywhere in B.C., but particularly in the Peace, East Chilctoin and area west of Kamloops, to report them immediately.
It's a small action Brook said could make a big difference in preventing the animals from becoming established.
'B.C. is a huge province. It covers a massive area, and there aren't enough airplanes and helicopters and trail cameras to cover all of it,' he said.
'So eyes on the land of people that are hunters and hikers and recreationists and people delivering the mail, people driving school buses, everybody out there that spends a lot of time outside has the chance to see these and report them in and get those in a timely manner so they can react quickly.'
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