What’s the Pig Deal?

Invasive wild pigs mainly eat vegetation (e.g., crops, tubers, roots, grasses), however, they take advantage of a range of other foods, including worms and insects, small mammals, the young of larger mammals, and eggs. This ability to take advantage of a wide-range of food sources allows them to quickly adapt to new areas and outcompete native wildlife.

Invasive wild pigs generally travel in family groups, called sounders, made up of two or more adult females (sows) and their young.

Adult males (boars) are often found alone or in smaller groups with other males. These animals are intelligent and can learn to avoid traps, people, other threats. These learned behaviours can also be passed down to their offspring, making management efforts more challenging over time.

Although wild pigs prefer deciduous forests, farmland, wetlands or shoreline areas when available, they can adapt to diverse climates and habitats across Canada. Many of the pigs found in the wild are hybrids — the result of crossbreeding between Eurasian wild boar and domestic pigs and the continued interbreeding of populations in the wild. These hybrids combine the survival traits of wild boar with the size and reproductive capabilities of domestic pigs, making them even more successful as an invasive species.

Female pigs can begin to reproduce as early six months of age.  In some regions of the world, wild pigs are capable of breeding year-round and can have up to two litters of 4 to 12 piglets per year, which can cause populations to grow very quickly.

Through behaviours like rooting, trampling, wallowing, and foraging, invasive wild pigs disrupt ecosystems by altering nutrient cycles and competing with native wildlife for food and habitat. They prey on eggs and small animals like birds, turtles, and frogs, reducing biodiversity. Their activities near water sources cause erosion, sedimentation, and contamination, harming aquatic life. In forests, they consume seedlings and damage mature trees, making them vulnerable to pests and disease. Globally, wild pigs are linked to biodiversity loss and disease spread.

From a Western worldview, invasive wild pigs are often referred to as an environmental and agricultural pest. However, Indigenous Nations and communities hold diverse and distinct relationships with the land and its species, informed by their laws, knowledge systems, and cultural values. For some First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nations and communities, wild pigs may be seen as a potential resource, while others may raise concerns about impact on traditional food systems, medicines, and culturally significant landscapes.

Wild pigs cause major economic losses by damaging crops, pastures, and predating young livestock (e.g., newborn lambs, goats, calves). Where wild pig populations are well established in the United States, agricultural losses and control efforts cost an estimated $2.5 billion USD annually. Pig-vehicle collisions alone are estimated to cost $36 million USD each year.^6,7

Wild pigs carry numerous diseases that can affect livestock, wildlife, pets, and humans. Diseases can spread directly from wild pigs to humans through slaughter or meat consumption. Disease can also spread indirectly through ticks or contaminated water. Wild pigs also carry a considerable number of diseases that, if transmitted to domestic pork or cattle operations, would result in high economic losses. African swine fever (ASF) is considered the single largest threat to the global pork industry. While ASF doesn’t affect humans or pork safety, it rapidly spreads through pigs, contaminated products and equipment. Although ASF is not yet in Canada, an outbreak would halt pork exports and have a devastating impact on Canada’s export-driven hog industry.¹⁰