CRAIK—A feral wild boar shot recently in the R.M. of Craik has people wondering if the menace is putting down roots in the area.
Earlier this November a wild boar was shot and killed a few miles west of Craik. The boar was spotted at night when it ran across the road. The man went back the next morning looking for it, but couldn’t find it. He checked again later in the day and found it in a pasture a few miles from where he’d first seen it the night before.
The hope is that the boar shot near Craik was a lone boar and not a member of a group of wild boar that has taken up residence in the area.
Hilton Spencer, Reeve of the R.M. of Craik, said he saw a wild boar three or four years ago while he was out hunting south of Craik.
“I guess they’ve been around here the odd time,” he said, not aware of any problems caused by boars in the area.
Still, “We’re happy it was shot,” Spencer said.
“They are not good things to have around. They are quick. They are mean,” said pest control officer Lee Storey.
Groups of wild boar have been known to destroy acres of crop overnight due to their feeding habits. Wild boar are omnivorous and eat a wide-variety of plants, roots and animals. They up the ground wherever they go. The species is not native to Saskatchewan. Wild boar were introduced to the province in the 1990s as a form of agricultural diversification. A few animals escaped from their pens and thrived in the wild.
They are smart, they have no natural predators and because sows can produce two litters of four to 12 piglets a year, tough to control.
Storey, who works to control nuisance animals for the rural municipalities of Arm River, Willner and Big Arm said wild boars are not a problem yet in the area, “but they could be.”
About three years ago, he knew of one boar that was south of Girvin and has heard of three sightings in the area that he considers reliable.
Other parts of Saskatchewan are not so lucky.
To read more, please see the Nov. 24, 2014 print edition of The Davidson Leader. To subscribe phone 306-567-2047.