Canadian super pigs may invade the US

New research by scientists shows that super feral pigs in Canada have a high possibility of spreading into South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Minnesota, causing billions of dollars in damage.

Super feral pigs in Canada could cross the border and invade the northern United States, according to research published in the journal Biological Invasions. Feral pigs are a mixed population of domestic pigs ( Sus scrofa domesticus ), feral pigs ( Sus scrofa ) introduced to Canada in the late 1980s for meat and recreational hunting, and hybrids of the two species, according to the Council. Canadian invasive species. Ranchers released feral hogs and some domestic pigs when the pork market tanked in the early 2000s, saying they could not survive the harsh winters on the Canadian prairies with heavy snowfall. But on the contrary, the pigs thrived.

The Canadian super wild pig has good cold tolerance. (Photo: Houston Herald).

According to Ryan Brook, a professor of meat and poultry science at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada , feral pigs have a high reproductive rate, are very mobile and spread easily . They also tolerate cold well, so Brook and his colleagues nicknamed them "super pigs" . Super pigs can cross the border into the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Minnesota. While the southern United States already has about 6.9 million feral pigs, much of the north is devoid of pigs partly due to control efforts.

However, authorities' efforts may not be enough to stop invasive pigs from the north, threatening to cause major damage to agricultural production and the ecosystem. "Feral pigs are root diggers and soil diggers. They are an ecological disaster. They eat anything from small mammals like mice to ducks and geese, even adult white-tailed deer are killed and eat meat ," Brook said.

To map the spread of feral pigs across Canada and determine where they spread next, Brook and his colleagues fitted 22 feral pigs with GPS collars. The necklaces transmit their position every 3 hours for 13 months. Some of the collars were broken or lost, so authorities only obtained data from 10 pigs. They then matched the location data with habitat type and created a model to simulate the pigs' movements. The research team expressed concern that feral pigs are likely to cross the Canada-US border and establish populations in the northern United States.

Feral pigs' preferred areas are swamps, deciduous forests, and crops that provide both food and shelter. This habitat type is widespread throughout boreal grasslands and along borders. The researchers found this spread was more likely to occur near bodies of water, including Fort Peck Lake in Montana, Devils Lake in North Dakota and the Missouri River.

"Our results demonstrate the potential for rapid and uncontrolled spread of feral pigs in the northern North American prairies. To minimize risks, Brook's team recommends planting low-crop crops that provide few refuges or prevent feral pigs from accessing their preferred habitat. This can be done by erecting fences or setting traps. Some feral pig populations in the province of Manitoba, Canada, are only 2 - 3 days from the US border move ".