• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Hybrid Hogs Are Raising Hell In Canada’s Southern Provinces

January 31, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

Hybrid hogs — a genetic blend of wild boars and domestic pigs — rocked up in Canadian farms around 30 years ago in an attempt to spice up the country’s livestock produce. Over the past three decades, countless numbers of them have escaped and bred like crazy, earning themselves the title of the most prolific invasive mammal in Canada.

The wild pigs are the descendants of domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus), Eurasian wild boar (S. scrofa scrofa), or hybrids of the two. 

Advertisement

As their name suggests, Eurasian wild boars and their domesticated subspecies are not native to North America but were introduced by European settlers in the 16th century. Over the next four centuries, many more were introduced into parts of the US and Canada for sport hunting, before being let loose into the wild. 

The problem of wild pigs truly took off in the late 1980s and early ’90s when farmers started to domesticate boar hybrids to diversify Canada’s livestock production. Taking inspiration from Europe, farmers would typically breed male wild boars with female domestic pigs, aiming to create an “Iron Age pig” that had similar qualities as early livestock that were first domesticated by humans in ancient times. 

The resulting pigs were quite remarkable: they were super-smart, large, purportedly delicious, and perfectly suited for the harsh Canadian winters. However, the market for boar pork delicacies slumped, so herds of the hybrids were let loose into the wild. Many more escaped their captivity using their keen senses and intelligence. 

They proved to be a formidably invasive species. The wild pigs hunted native animals, such as turkeys and game birds, and preyed on young livestock like lambs, kids, and calves. Simultaneously, they would strip the land of berries, roots, bark, and any form of vegetation, leaving little for grazing animals and black bears. 

Advertisement

On top of that, wild pigs are the hosts of over 30 significant viral and bacterial pathogens, as well as more than 37 species of parasites, which can pose a threat to humans and other animals. 

Map show the growth of wild pig populations in Canada between 1990-2000 compared to 2011-2017.

Two maps show the growth of wild pig populations in Canada between 1990-2000 compared to 2011-2017.

Image credit: University of Saskatchewa

As prolific breeders with a lack of natural predators, their numbers were able to boom rapidly. A 2019 study found that the wild pig population in Canada was increasing by 9 percent a year. As per the research, the wild pigs command a range of over 750,000 square kilometers (289,576 square miles), which has increased by 88,000 square kilometers (33,976 square miles) per year over the last decade.

“Wild pigs are ecological train wrecks. They are prolific breeders making them an extremely successful invasive species,” said study author Ruth Aschim in a statement at the time.

“The growing wild pig population is not an ecological disaster waiting to happen—it is already happening,” added Ryan Brook, lead researcher for the Canadian Wild Pig Project.

Advertisement

“This is a rapidly emerging crisis.”

Some provinces of Canada have taken action against the invasion. As of January 1, 2024, the importation, possession, transport, propagation, buying, selling, and trading of live Eurasian wild boar and their hybrids is banned in Ontario, according to the local government. This includes any animal that is genetically greater than 25 percent Eurasian wild boar. 

Over in Alberta, provincial governments have rolled out a program for the public to report sightings of feral pigs and the damage they have left behind. Before this, the province ran an initiative where hunters could turn in a set of wild boar ears and receive a $50 bounty – but the plan backfired. 

“What happens is if a hunter goes in and removes one or two individuals, the remaining pigs learn from that experience to avoid humans. They will avoid being hunted or trapped by humans – they’ll go nocturnal, they’ll disperse,” Megan Evans, executive director of the Alberta Invasive Species Council, said in 2021.

Advertisement

“These are really smart animals, we all know how smart pigs are and these are wild boar, so they are smarter than domestic pigs. And they will actually teach (those behaviours) to their offspring,” noted Evans. 

Canada’s pig problem still squeals on, but they are not alone in their woes. A recent report estimated that there are over 37,000 invasive species worldwide, with 200 new ones recorded each year. Many of them present a serious danger to wildlife, human health, and food security – and just like Canada’s feral hogs, there are no easy solutions.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Paris ramps up security as jihadist attacks trial starts
  2. Cricket-‘Western bloc’ has let Pakistan down, board chief says
  3. Ancient Bison Found In Permafrost Is So Well Preserved Scientists Want To Clone It
  4. Where Inside Us Do We Feel Love?

Source Link: Hybrid Hogs Are Raising Hell In Canada's Southern Provinces

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • An Ominous Haze Lurks Over The Deadliest Volcano In US, But USGS Says A Repeat Of 1980 Isn’t Coming
  • Hayabusa2’s Target Asteroid Is 4 Times Smaller Than Thought – Can It Still Touch Down On It?
  • In 2011, Slavc The Wolf Journeyed 1,000 Miles To Begin Verona’s First Wolf Pack In 100 Years
  • Anyone Know What These Marine “Y-Larvae” Grow Into? Because Scientists Have No Clue
  • C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) Closest Earth Approach Is Next Month – Will We See It With The Naked Eye?
  • In 2013, A Volcanic Eruption Wiped Out Life On This Remote Island. Then, Somehow, Plants Reemerged
  • 1-Year-Old Orca Takes Out A Big Fat Seal In This Award-Winning – And Extremely Badass – Photo
  • Saturn And Neptune Will Reach Their Brightest In Days – And Look For Saturn’s Temporary Beauty Spot
  • Reindeer Bring A Gift Greater Than Any Of Santa’s – Hope Of A Stable Climate
  • If Deep-Sea Pressure Can Crush A Human Body, How Do Deep-Sea Creatures Not Implode?
  • Meet Ned: The Lonely Lefty Snail Looking For Love
  • “America Will Lead The Next Giant Leap”: NASA Announces New Milestone In Hunt For Exoplanets
  • What Did Neanderthals Sound Like?
  • One Star System Could Soon Dazzle Us Twice With Nova And Supernova Explosions
  • Unethical Experiments: When Scientists Really Should Have Stopped What They Were Doing Immediately
  • The First Humans Were Hunted By Leopards And Weren’t The Apex Predators We Thought They Were
  • Earth’s Passage Through The Galaxy Might Be Written In Its Rocks
  • What Is An Einstein Cross – And Why Is The Latest One Such A Unique Find?
  • If We Found Life On Mars, What Would That Mean For The Fermi Paradox And The Great Filter?
  • The Longest Living Mammals Are Giants That Live Up To 200 Years In The Icy Arctic
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version