Since April 1, the province has offered rewards to Albertans for proof of wild boar kills through two pilot programs — part of a larger effort to eradicate feral pigs, including increased surveillance and new compensation for farmers. The price is for the heads of wild boars. more specifically, their ears. A two-year “full sound trapping incentive” encourages the eradication of wild boar herds. Trappers are paid $75 per pair of ears, with the expectation that they have killed an entire bottom. A separate one-year program offers hunters $75 for each pair of ears they point. As of this week, however, no bounty hunters have collected a reward – raising concerns about the effectiveness of the hunt. In a statement to CBC on Tuesday, the province said no rewards have been collected to date.

“I’m looking for a new creature”

Terry Fisher, a lifelong hunter from De Winton, a small village in the foothills of southern Alberta, wants to help the province deal with its problem. But trying to track down a wild pig feels like a “dead end,” he said. While hunters can be secretive about their hunting grounds, there is a lack of information from the government about where to look for wild boar, he said. Internet message boards dedicated to hunting are filled with postings from Albertans looking for clues about how — and where — to harvest the animals. The province is not giving out locations “due to privacy issues,” he says. “I can’t find out where they are,” Fisher said. “You are always looking for a new creature. And for this one, there is no information.” If the province wants help eradicating them, more needs to be done to educate would-be hunters, he said. “They’re talking about how it could be close to, you know, epidemic proportions. Okay, where is that?” Alberta is grappling with how to eradicate the big tusks. The wild boar is one of the most destructive and rapidly spreading invasive species on the continent. The province’s feral pig population includes Eurasian wild boars as well as Eurasian hybrids and domestic pigs — escaped farm animals and their offspring. Pigs are incredibly destructive. They encroach on natural habitats, devour crops and harass livestock. They contaminate water sources by wading into wetlands and carry diseases that can spread to domestic pigs. An expert warns that feral pigs can fool bounty hunters trying to track them down. (Submitted by Ryan Brook) The Alberta hunt will run until March 31, 2023. The trapping side of the program will run until spring 2024. To date, the Municipal District of Bonnyville, the Municipal District of Peace and the County of Stettler have signed on to both pilots. Ryan Brooke, an associate professor in the University of Saskatchewan’s department of agriculture and director of the Canadian Wild Pig Research Project, said he is pleased they have not claimed benefits. Hunting is an ineffective management tool for wild hogs and will likely exacerbate the problem, he said. “The Alberta government has done a lot of good things,” Brook said. “In many ways they lead the country in dealing with feral hogs. This generosity was not one of them.”

Beat the hunt?

Hunting will disperse the hogs across the landscape and make them more nocturnal and elusive, Brooke said. The animals will learn to avoid threats and outwit hunters, he said. “Unfortunately, sport hunting has played a major role in the growth of populations and their spread,” he said. “They now occupy over a million square kilometers of Canada … and are expanding across the prairies, completely unchecked.” I discourage any do-it-yourself work on pigs in general.-Ryan Brook Trapping is most effective at killing feral hogs, but it should be a concerted effort that captures and kills an entire sonar, he said. “Self-made traps and going out and shooting groups of pigs, in both cases, is almost a guaranteed path to making the problem worse. “I discourage any do-it-yourself work, generally, on pigs.” The province should abandon bounty hunting, as it has done in the past, Brooke said. Alberta’s previous boar bounty program, introduced in 2008, paid $50 once proof of kill was provided. More than 1,000 wild boars were killed under that program, which closed in 2017. A government report from the time notes that interest is waning and hunting could make the pigs more wary and difficult to spot.
At Hog Wild Specialties on land near Mayerthorpe, 135 kilometers northwest of Edmonton, hunters have been stalking wild hogs — on fenced hunting grounds — for years. Earl Hagman, who owns the business, raises the animals for meat and also hosts guided hunts. He has no problem with the government rewarding him, but wonders if hunters will have much luck stalking pigs in the wild. Hagman said he often gets calls from hunters looking for information on where to find the beasts in the bush, but said he hasn’t seen one in years.
He started breeding and marketing European wild boars in 1991. At that time, farmers were encouraged by the province to diversify their activities. Pigs were promoted as a hardy and palatable livestock option, but there were no requirements for safe confinement. And few believed that pigs could thrive in Alberta’s cold winters. Hagman hosts more than 100 captive hunts each year and said customers quickly become hooked on the challenge and harvest. “They love the meat. They come back again and again for the meat.” Young wild boar roaming in a field. Pigs are prolific breeders and incredibly destructive when free in the wild. (Submitted by Ryan Brook/Canadian Wild Pig Research Project)