As the sun goes down on the Canadian Prairies, researchers venture into tracking the trajectory of one of North America’s most destructive invasive species: the “super pig.“ The rapidly expanding feral pigs also referred to as wild hogs, are such a dominant force that authorities are still concerned and apprehensive of a growing population that resists control efforts.
Dr. Ryan Brook, a professor in the College of Agriculture and Resources at the University of Saskatchewan, has been monitoring their spread for decades. He believes there is no doubt that they are in the search area—and in large numbers.
“No doubt,” Brook told CBS News. “And like, lots of them, not two or three, there are a lot of pigs out there. It’s kind of mildly disturbing just how many pigs are around us right now.”
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These super pigs have already put American border states on high alert. Experts indicate that if they are able to get into the United States, they might pose a multibillion-dollar danger to the U.S. economy. Brook, Canada’s top authority on these creatures, describes them as an “ecological trainwreck.”
The damage they leave behind
Super pigs are not ordinary wild boars. They are hybrids—wild boars bred with domestic pigs for a purpose—giving rise to animals that are bigger, very smart, and can reproduce very quickly. Their population has gotten out of hand, making them almost impossible to eliminate.
“I think there’s two issues in Canada,” Brook explains. “One is their biology is so, so hard to get rid of. They multiply faster than you can kill them.”
Not only do they breed quickly, but they will eat almost anything to keep themselves alive. This has had devastating consequences for farmers and ranchers. They devastate land, destroy crops, and put livestock at risk by spreading disease. Their ability to survive in adverse climates and tough environments makes them even more formidable.
For Saskatchewan farmers, super pigs are a nightmare. When the destruction gets too severe, they call Alain Guillet, who specializes in catching and removing the animals. Guillet says he takes out around five super pigs a week, but the issue still remains.
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Showing CBS News the damage left behind, Guillet said, “They’ve eaten everything that’s of value off of it, so he’s lost all this.”
Brook warns that the more of these super pigs there are, the more devastation will follow. “The bigger these numbers get, the more crop loss we’re gonna have. We’re gonna have the potential for disease transmission. These pigs can transmit disease from animals to humans, from animals to pets, from animals to wildlife, and from animals to livestock.”
A looming threat to the United States
The wild pig destruction in the U.S. is already significant. Feral swine cost U.S. farmers about $2.5 billion in lost crops annually, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. The danger isn’t only economic, however—these pigs can also attack people. In 2019, a Texas woman was killed by a pack of wild pigs, highlighting the risk they represent.
Maggie Nutter, a fourth-generation rancher in Sweetgrass, Montana, has every reason to be concerned. Her ranch sits squarely on the Canadian border, where only a humble barbed-wire fence separates her land from the potential incursion of super pigs.
“So here’s the border fence between us and Canada, just an old barbed-wire fence that I fix up in the summer,” Nutter told CBS News. She’s well aware of the destruction these animals cause both in the U.S. and Canada.
“You see all the damage the billions of dollars of damage that those pigs do down south, and the damage that they’re doing up in Canada,” she said. “We can’t afford them…It already costs, you know, so much for farm equipment. So much for hay, so much for diesel, we can’t afford pigs.”
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To that purpose, Montana has launched a “Squeal on Pigs” campaign, asking citizens to report any sightings of feral swine to the authorities before the problem gets out of hand.
Brook says it’s not a question of if these super pigs will cross the border, but when. “Well, this is what I’ve been warning for now into 15 years,” he said. “And warning anybody who would listen that this is coming.”
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As Canada grapples with keeping the super pig population under control, the United States looks on anxiously, aware that once the animals have crossed the border, it could be almost impossible to stop them.
