Feral pigs believed to be in the Shuswap area, experts warn

Pigs may be going wild in the Shuswap.

The Columbia Shuswap Invasive Species Society is warning community members to keep their eyes peeled for domestic pigs that may have escaped captivity during wildfire season, lest they get a shot at going feral.

“We’ve just heard about fencing being destroyed during wildfires and all it takes is a pregnant pig and off they go,” said Robyn Hooper, executive director of the society.

“They have a high birth rate and they go feral pretty quickly and the domestic pigs can mate with feral pigs, but also … domestic escaped pigs can establish wild populations and have negative environmental, economic, and health impacts.”

Feral pigs are a combination of wild boars, escaped domestic pigs, and hybrid offspring of the two. The varied genetics of feral pigs give rise to a wide range of appearances. They are light reddish-brown to white to black in colour and have coarse, dark hair on their bodies.

Hooper said established populations of feral pigs are not present in B.C. but are known to be in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. They also have been found in the United States and caused significant financial harm. In the U.S., wild hogs caused agricultural losses of $1.5 billion per year.

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Those harms come in a variety of forms.

5:00 Experts urge action on feral pig problem in regions of B.C.

“There’s African swine fever … but there are a number of different diseases that can be transmitted and they could be directly or indirectly through ticks and contaminated water.”

Hooper said feral pigs could be tricky to spot.

“It’s an animal that is quite good at hiding, in fact,” she said. “But folks can watch out for signs …  tracks and other things.”

If there is a sighting, however, they’re easily identifiable, though wrangling them should not be done without some assistance.

“They aren’t large animals but they are aggressive,” she said.

“(I would) encourage folks to be careful and treat them like they would any other large animal in the bush,” she said.

Sightings can be reported on the Columbia Shuswap Invasive Species Society website.