An exploding population of hard-to-eradicate “super pigs” in Canada is threatening to spill south of the border, and northern states like Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana are taking steps to stop the invasion.
In Canada, the wild pigs roaming Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba pose a new threat. They are often crossbreeds that combine the survival skills of wild Eurasian boars with the size and high fertility of domestic swine to create a “super pig” that’s spreading out of control.
Ryan Brook, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan and one of Canada’s leading authorities on the problem, calls feral swine, “the most invasive animal on the planet” and “an ecological train wreck.”
The most invasive animal on the planet.
I think humans win that trophy.
To be fair, we are behind the whole invasive species thing
“Who is more invasive? The invasive species or the invasive species who imported it?” – Obi Wan Swinobi
And that species was Albert Einstein
Yeah, way into the planetary infestation phase too, and already triggered the 6th mass extinction event.
Yeah those guys are distant second at best.
We should handle it the same way we treat invasive animals 🙂
At least they sound like a viable game animal. Invasive species to you, 100lbs of free pork for Billy out in the woods. We use it to control deer populations from exploding in certain areas where we’ve removed the top predator though, and we just kinda take its place. Can potentially help with any animal that has the misfortune of being both tasty and economical to go out and hunt for.
Won’t eradicate them or anything, but will help keep them in check. It’s a facet of that old alliance between hunters/fishermen and environmental activists.
Unfortunately they’ll still see population growth…
That means 65% or more of a wild pig population could be killed every year and it will still increase, Brook said. Hunting just makes the problem worse, he said. The success rate for hunters is only about 2% to 3% and several states have banned hunting because it makes the pigs more wary and nocturnal — tougher to track down and eradicate.
They are clever animals. You have to play the long con if you want to deal with their populations. Ive seen things where they actually feed them and gradually pen them in and the liquidate the whole drove.
My family in GA does a lot of this. They are farmers & have been successful in keeping feral hogs out of their fields. Hunting & trapping absolutely does work, you just have to know what the hell you’re doing.
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One would assume success means killing an animal when you go out on the hunt. 2-3% seems ludicrously low though, i grew up hunting in southern Illinois to feed our family and the success rate for deer was easily ten times that number on a bad year
I think it means that when they go out and shoot a pig or two, that’s only 2-3% of the herd
Gotcha, but if 10 hunters in the herds area do that for a week straight, no more herd as intended right? Or just say open season on the invasive wild hogs and the hunters will go kill enough to fill their deep freezes and will go do it again as soon as stock starts running out
I think I could only fit a single hog in my freezer.
The real way to fast track the extermination would be to allow the hunters to sell the meat, or some other incentive to destory entire herds
If you sell meat it’s supposed to be federally inspected. That’s the catch-point here.
Time to allow hunters to bring in M60 machine guns.
Ironically they are nicknamed “the pig”.
The issue with vermin animals that have free range licenses is that you get a lot of people that have no idea what they’re doing, usually teenagers, out there that teach the animals to avoid humans.
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I shoulda opened the article instead of just reading the synopsis. That is concerning.
I’ll point out though, that since it’s a new prey animal to the area, it will take time for the locals to learn how to hunt it effectively. It’s behavior needs to be learned first, so effective approaches can be devised.
But … delicious, economical and challenging is also something a hunter might find interesting.
All the more bacon! And something useful to do for all those trigger-happy Americans.
Just declare open season and no bag limit on pigs in all northern states. I guarantee you all the Bubbas and outdoorsmen will take care of it.
They’re not able to keep up with the breeding in Texas, and there’s even helicopter tours where you can try and wipe out whole herds at a time.
To your point, I ran across this video of an eradication attempt. Insane numbers being killed but they keep coming.
I have seen this in Louisiana, too. They will use helicopters(I even saw one mounted with a light machine gun) and gun down hundreds at a time. It still isn’t enough, and they have a lot of Bubbas down there hunting them in one way or another.
This is already the case in Saskatchewan and it hasn’t managed to curb the population.
Right, under Canadian gun laws, so they’re plinking them with bolt action .308s
Wait til SuperPork wanders into AR country…
Actually, some states ban hunting with AR-15’s because the round isn’t deadly enough for a clean kill.
My smart-assed comparison:
But to be fair, if you want to engage multiple targets, the AR is far more controllable.
and we all made fun of that 30-50 feral hogs guy
truly we were the fools all along
Feral hogs have been a problem for a while. They do tons of damage to southern agriculture each year. USDA estimates 1.5 billion dollars worth annually. https://www.nifa.usda.gov/about-nifa/impacts/southern-region-land-grant-researchers-finding-feral-hog-solutions
super pigs from the north
feral hogs from the south
humanity’s days are numbered
Oh no, it’s animal farm.
No, we made fun of the fact that the dude was imagining himself going full Doom through an ocean of pig blood to reach his kids on the other side.
Cody and the people at Some More News have been warning us for YEARS of this menace: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkJemc4T5NYZRH_2kTRBKeYVf6mmx0lQK&si=-A-aUBoR8svt17W2
More like… Some Boar News!
I think we’ve categorically shown that indeed, always some boar news.
I can hear him screaming now incoherently as he chugs his wet juice down his glug hole. The poor ignored hero we all didnt deserve.
I was about to say this. He warned us!
They didn’t listen! And now it’s too late…
Do they not taste good or something?
No, Thėy təste aɓSlutelƴ awefull!
-Sined, Not Ae Pig
REEEEE! Absholuutely, what thish guy RRRREEEEEEE shaid… Tashtes like sssshhiiit…
I’ve seen a little video on them. Apparently their meat is not good for consumption and tastes horrible due to their diet. But I’ve never tried super pig before, so right now it’s only speculation.
But they should still be good enough for the McRib right?
Apparently their meat is not good for consumption and tastes horrible due to their diet
I wonder how much selection pressure humans are applying in favour of this trait, since it’s the ultimate defence against human predation . One of the best defences that Canada geese have is that they taste terrible too.
If they are anything like the wild boars in Texas they are incredibly gamey, which some people don’t mind and others can’t stand. I’m sure that there is a way to prepare them that makes them more palletable
I love problems we can eat our way out of… if we almost wiped out the buffalo these little shits shouldn’t be an issue.
Buffalo weren’t eaten to almost extinction. And they don’t give birth to 10 calves at a time.
I almost wish they were eaten to death, they were actually left to rot on the plains …
A problem I’ve heard with them is that they’re super smart. You trap one boar in a bear trap or something and that’s the only boar you’re catching from that region with that same type of trap.
Pork for the pork God.Super-pigs threatening to invade America?
I knew all that military spending would come in handy
What are chances US loses the North American Boar War?
100 %. Well, probably it’ll become sort of a frozen conflict and a steady income for the ammunition industry, sort of a lose (US) — lose (boars) — win (ammunition industry) situation.
The only enemy boars have to fear is influenza.
Build a wall! The pigs are going to pay for it!
The bacon tax.
Can’t this be solved in a way where we get tons of super bacon?
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And year long McRibs, carnitas, al pastor, jeff pastor, etc.
Give a tax break to Hormel, Hillshire Farms, and Oscar Meyer
They reproduce faster than they can be hunted.
Call it an immigrant caravan of Al Queda terrorist who are bringing the gay communist agenda of socialism who read in drag to children.
Problem solved. You’re welcome.
I know this is bad, but I also know I’m not the only one whose first thought was, “super bacon”.
“most invasive animal on the planet”
Oh, just wait until you find out about humans…
I’d say we could use Spider-Pig to stop the Super Pigs, but you’re not supposed to mix Marvel and D.C.
EDIT: Guess you guys aren’t Simpsons fans.
The risk is that if these pigs cross with a hypothetical manbear then we would have an unstoppable being that’s half man, half bear, half pig.
You can’t be cereal
I’m super cereal, buddy.
I’m not your buddy, pal.
I’m not your pal, guy!
Spider pig
Spider pig
Does whatever a spider pig does
Can he swing from a web?
No he can’t, he’s a pig.
Look out!
Charlotte is happy about that.
Wilbur, not so much.
Oh, ok, so like literally, not a title about overseas mutated police force …
A close one with all them nuclear reactors being hacked to produce, em, hybrids.
The Duke is waiting for the day, until then he waits for his Supply of bubblegum to run out
I better prepare to be shaking it, baby.
