Wild pigs are destroying hayfields, pillaging feeding areas reserved for livestock and knocking down fences to get at food in the Cariboo-Chilcotin.
Experts worry that the herds of feral pigs now breeding in the wild could spark a population explosion.
Millions of omnivorous feral pigs commit hundreds of million of dollars in property damage in the United States every year, uprooting and eating crops and even devouring small livestock.
“We thought we had a few pigs in one area, but in talking to ranchers we now think we have more pigs in the Chilcotin than we thought,” said Gail Wallin, executive director of the Invasive Species Council of B.C.
“Ranchers are worried about the agricultural impact and want this taken care of.”
Wild pigs are so aggressive and destructive that the Ministry of Forests, Lands And Natural Resource Operations declared open season on them in 2014, allowing any licensed hunter to hunt them any time and anywhere.
Despite those measures, new feral pig populations are emerging in Peace Country and southern Vancouver Island in addition to established herds in the central Interior.
“We have documented wild pigs in the Cariboo-Chilcotin and north Okanagan, but our most recent reports in the past year come from the northeast and Vancouver Island,” said Wallin. “If they are breeding, the population could explode.”
Escaped swine have also been reported in the Lower Mainland, Kootenays and South Okanagan, where a wild population may already be established.
In 2011, a herd of at least 25 wild pigs tore up yards and gardens in Christina Lake, probably the offspring of a handful of farm animals that escaped in 2007.
“This is a high priority species that has done a lot of damage in other areas,” said Wallin. “We need the government to invest in eradication and to move very quickly. It’s much easier to contain and respond to invasives if we catch them early.”
The provincial government is preparing a new risk assessment of the wild pigs with an eye to expanding control efforts, including trapping.
About 150 invasive species experts are gathering in Richmond this week for three days of workshops on emerging threats to B.C. ecosystems, including feral pigs, nutria and sea creatures.