The bad news about boar-hunting
By Lynne Bell
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听听听听听听听听听听听 The good news is that the province recognizes the seriousness of the presence of wild boar in Saskatchewan. The bad news? The animals can now be hunted in Saskatchewan without a license.
听听听听听听听听听听听 These statements may seem counter-intuitive, but they're not. Unrestricted hunting of these feral pigs is part of the reason they have become a massive problem the U.S.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Ryan Brook, an Assistant Professor at the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatoon told The Observer just over a year ago: 鈥淚n the United States, there are approximately five million wild boars and they cause approximately $1.5 billion in damage annually. We have to take this matter very seriously. Do we really want wild boars to cause billions of dollars in Saskatchewan?鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Of course we don't. Wild boar were introduced to the province in an effort to diversify agriculture, but their rapid rates of reproduction, their ease of adaptation to a variety of environments and their destructive capabilities translate into trouble for farmers, ranchers, native wildlife and ecosystems, and, well, all of us.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Space doesn't allow me to even begin to scratch the surface of how destructive wild boar are, but a quick Google search will give a compelling picture of how difficult they are to eradicate and the extensive damage they are capable of causing.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Ryan Powers, who is conducting a study of wild boar with Brook in Moose Mountain Provincial Park, told The Observer: 鈥淲ild boar adapt to a wide range of habitats. They're opportunistic omnivores that eat almost anything and everything they find and they're prolific breeders.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淭he damage they cause is tremendous-the damage to acgriculture, property and the environment is hard to quantify. But in Texas alone, feral swine cause an estimated $59 million in damage annually.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 So what's the problem with hunting the pesky pigs?
听听听听听听听听听听听 The concern isn't so much hunting them; but unrestricted hunting by inexperienced hunters.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Currently, a study is being conducted in Moose Mountain Provincial Park by Brook and Powers, who are working with the locally-based Moose Mountain Wild Boar Eradication Committee. Both parties are aware of the urgency surrounding the boars' presence in Saskatchewan and their goal is complete eradication.
听听听听听听听听听听听 However, wild boar are intelligent, adaptive creatures and when targeted by inexperienced hunters, large-scale eradication becomes more diificult, not less. With the introduction of more hunters, wild boar quickly adapt and soon become even more difficult to locate. The Moose Mountain group use tracking collars and target specific pigs in an effort to achieve eradication that is total and effective for the long-term.
听听听听听听听听听听听 I have no doubt that the new hunting regulations are well-intentioned, but they are not well-researched.
听听听听听听听听听听听 In this area, Powers and his team-working in conjunction with the Moose Mountain Wild Boar Eradication Committee-are conducting valuable research and employing strategies that aim to permanently solve the feral pig problem throughout the province, and unrestricted hunting will only hinder their progress.
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听Go wild while hunting boar鈥� maybe not the best decision
By Kelly Running
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听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Towards the end of June the Saskatchewan Government decided to relax its laws against the hunting of wild boar in the province. Hunters are no long required to have a licence to hunt feral or free-ranging wild boar鈥� which might not be the right way to go.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Although this means the government recognizes wild boar is a threat, turning it into a free for all is likely not the answer. Currently a study in the Moose Mountain鈥檚 back country is being conducted and researchers with that have continually told the media that hunting wild boar without studying them first isn鈥檛 going to help.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Boar are highly intelligent and adaptable, which means they will become more difficult to locate if the group is not completely eradicated. Hence, the study is focused on monitoring movement and habits of the animals, to encourage eventual eradication. But understanding the creature is important before simply allowing people to hunt them because there is actually a chance to make things worse not better by doing this.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Although over 60 rural municipalities in southern Saskatchewan have reported damage matching wild boar (unconfirmed) or have actually seen wild boar. Control sounds more complex than just letting people hunt them as they like.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It would appear through an article I read on Global News that the government is expecting these changes to make a difference in boar population, but with the research being done in the back country of the Moose Mountains I鈥檓 very hesitant to believe it will work.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Unrestricted hunting by inexperienced hunters who think they鈥檒l just bag a wild boar is the biggest thing I worry about. First off wild boar can be dangerous when threatened and hunters may put themselves into a poor situation which may result in injury if they do something wrong in their hunt. Boar can grow to quite a large size, so threatening them as an inexperienced hunter is maybe not the best idea.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Secondly because boar are smart and opportunistic omnivores they can adjust and adapt quite easily. If they were caught doing something and threatened, they鈥檙e less likely to be caught doing that again. Even trapping a boar is difficult because if it happens to one, typically the others will learn that those traps are traps and avoid them.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The government possibly should have checked in with the University of Saskatchewan鈥檚 efforts to study wild boar before simply changing the laws. But I guess we鈥檒l just see how this goes鈥� either they鈥檒l be in discussions in the future about how to approach the matter or maybe their gamble of opening up hunting will pay off. Only time will tell.
