German experts advise on Manitoba’s wild pig problem

Two experts from Germany joined the first ever Canadian Wild Pig Summit in Brandon last month to help Manitoba with its growing wild pig problem.

On April 23, Animal Health Canada (AHC), Assiniboine Community College (ACC), and Squeal on Pigs Manitoba, a program facilitated by Manitoba Pork, held the inaugural summit, bringing together experts from across the country, the United States and Europe to discuss the best ways to control Canada’s burgeoning wild pig population.

Considered an invasive species in Canada, wild pigs were first established in Manitoba in the 1980s, after they were brought over from Europe for an agricultural livestock diversification initiative, the Manitoba government’s website states.

Besides damaging crops by uprooting and trampling them, and creating human safety concerns — wild pigs are nocturnal and often attempt to cross highways at night — the animals pose an economic risk. Manitoba Pork says they can contaminate water sources with E. coli and other bacteria, they displace wildlife and they can carry up to 89 diseases that pose a threat to livestock. They also reproduce quickly, with sows giving birth to four to 12 piglets up to two times in one year.

One of the biggest threats wild pigs pose is the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF), a federally reportable swine disease that, so far, is not present in Canada. However, Manitoba Pork says that if the disease took hold here it would hurt the Canadian swine herd and pork products.

According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, AFS is a viral disease that only spreads amongst pigs. However, as it spreads globally, it threatens the health of the Canadian pork industry and the economy. The disease spreads between pigs, orby farm equipment, feed and clothing that has been contaminated with the virus.

For several years, Animal Health Canada has worked with government, industry, and associations to keep ASF out of Canada and develop a plan in case it does arrive, said Colleen McElwain, executive director of the organization, in a press release sent out by Manitoba Pork ahead of the summit. Preventing and controlling the spread of the virus is one of AHC’s biggest challenges, she said.

“This is why this event is so important, so we can learn from others and continue to be proactive with our prevention planning.”

During the summit, a trapper’s forum was held featuring German wild pig experts Egbert Gleich and Carl Gremse from the Brandenburg State Forest Services in Germany, who joined virtually to present on how to manage wild boar during a disease outbreak.

During an outbreak of ASF in Belgium in 2018, Germany used fences and traps to try to keep infected animals from entering their country. A research article written in April of 2020 from the Ministry of Agriculture in the Czech Republic stated that at the time nine countries in continental Europe were affected, including Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Belgium, Romania, and Hungary.

Gleich said the virus has affected wild boars in Brandenburg, Saxony and Mecklenburg Western Pomerania in Germany. The very first case was discovered in a wild boar in Spree-Neiβe in September of 2020. Further spread of the disease was prevented thanks in part to the work of the Brandenburg State Forest Services.

“Somebody brings the disease over long distances into this country,” Gleich said, noting that over the border in Poland, less action has been taken against the spread of ASF, leading to a fence being built along the border between the countries.

Male wild pigs can travel up to 12 kilometres during one night, and their movements are exacerbated by hunting in the area, Gleich said.

“Male activities are driven by hunting. One pig went to east Poland and came back with an infection.”

One wild boar that the forest services tracked swam through two large rivers, proving once and for all that even large bodies of water were no deterrent to wild boars.

“People thought that rivers would stop them, but this is not the case,” Gleich said.

Female pigs were found to usually stay within a 500-hectare area, but one female was tracked 10.2 kilometres in December of 2022. She travelled from Germany to Poland where she was killed by a hunter.

To keep infected wild boars out of the country, many different types of fencing were tested, and the forest services eventually decided to trap boars to keep infected ones from entering the country as well.

“We used lots of special traps,” Gleich said.

After the pigs were trapped, it was important to observe their behaviour. It was discovered that trapped pigs behave differently than hunted pigs. Around 6.6 per cent of the trapped pigs were calm and relaxed immediately, and a further 82.8 per cent became calm and relaxed after a short period of time. Only 10.6 per cent of those trapped were aggressive.

Both Gleich and Gremse recommended controlling the spread of ASF, should it ever appear in Canada, with the use of minimally invasive methods like trapping systems in contaminated and endangered areas rather than using fences. They also stressed the importance of spreading the message not to hunt wild boars, since this greatly increases their movement and spread.

“You need to monitor your wild pig population, and then … make a decision on the most rational, best suited option,” Gremse said.

As the Sun previously reported, during the first day of the summit, Manitoba agriculture minister Ron Kostyshynannounced the province would invest $2.6 million over the next four years into the Squeal on Pigs Manitoba initiative that aims to track and remove wild pigs across the province.

Manitobans can help the fight against wild pigs by reporting sightings or signs of their activity through squealonpigsmb.org or by calling 1-833-SPOT-PIG.

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