By Alice McFarlane

Farm group calls for temporary suspension of wild boar farming

Feb 18, 2022 | 3:00 PM

MELFORT, Sask. – A farm group wants the Saskatchewan government to place a moratorium on wild boar farming.

The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) said new measures are needed to get a handle on the growing population of this invasive animal.

SARM president Ray Orb said wild boar arrived in Saskatchewan in the late 1970s as domestic livestock. Over time the animals escaped and reproduced at a rapid rate. The animals now roam freely in 60 rural municipalities.

Orb said the issue will come before the SARM convention in mid March.

“We had resolutions in the past that came to our conventions. This was over frustration of what’s happening in rural Saskatchewan with these wild boars really starting to invade the countryside and being really hard to control,” Orb said.

do it for the 'gram

How to photograph the northern lights with your phone

8h ago

Raiders move imports

Raiders acquire Vochvest from Prince George, release Panocha

14h ago

Candidate forum

P.A. and area MLA candidate forum cancelled over lack of participation

14h ago

SARM had asked the province to institute the moratorium but that hasn’t happened but instead several control measures have been put in place.

Orb said the animal is elusive, nocturnal, and difficult to hunt.

“Hunters might actually disperse those herds of wild boars and move them into a different area,” Orb said. “They’re very prolific. They’re very hardy. That’s why they’re so hard to control.”

Boars are notoriously intelligent and reckless as they rifle through crops, golf courses, and native land. Full-grown animals can be over 200 pounds, are fast, and have sharp tusks. They can easily withstand Saskatchewan’s freezing temperatures.

In 2016 Wildlife Regulations were amended to allow hunters the opportunity to hunt feral wild boars year-round without a license. SARM was happy with this policy change, but SARM members have been calling for moratoriums on wild boar farming since 2009.

“With the wild boar population continuing to spread, is it time to put those moratoriums in place so the problem doesn’t get any worse?” Orb said. “The time is imminent for a collaborative, long-term solution to be realized with our provincial government.”

The SARM annual convention is being held in Regina, Sask. March 15 to 17.

–

alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW