Two wild boars spotted in Yamachiche last fall have disappeared into the wild, which could cause significant damage to biodiversity and agriculture if they manage to reproduce.
• Also read: After the cows, the wild boars are free!
The two wild boars observed at the end of November 2023 near the town of Yamachiche, west of Trois-Rivières, are still on the run, recognizes Ève Morin Desrosiers, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Environment, Fight against Climate Change and Wildlife in Quebec Parks ( MELCCFP).
It would be a male and a female, “so it is important to recover them quickly to prevent the spread of these wild boars,” continues Ms. Morin Desrosiers.
Since their last report on November 29, 2023, we have lost track. “The weather conditions of the last few days and the lack of snow are currently making research work difficult,” mentions the publicist. Hunts for the two wild boars are planned in the coming weeks.
The two animals were filmed on the way to the Rivière du Loup in Yamachiche by a resident, Mylène Allarie, who initially mistook them for bears, and their images circulated on social networks.
The two adults were hunted by ministry personnel but were unable to locate the animals as they may have wandered far away.
A wild boar is considered an invasive exotic species in the state of Quebec. Frédérick Lelievre
Undesirable species
The species, described by the ministry as the “most prolific large mammal in the world,” has been monitored for more than a decade in Quebec, one of the rare places in North America where it does not occur. It is not yet adapted to the natural environment. From the age of six months, the wild boar can give birth to one or two litters of wild boars per year and can interbreed with domestic pigs.
Due to its morphology – a muscular body, tough skin over a thick layer of fat – and its diverse eating habits, the wild boar eats everything from tree buds and snakes to frogs and eggplant eggs. Birds, animal carcasses and corn kernels – the species has conquered almost the entire planet. In the United States, where 6 million people live, it causes more than $1.4 billion in damages annually.
We know the cold doesn't scare him, as 80% of all sightings in Canada are reported in Saskatchewan. In this province, the wild boar is an invasive exotic species against which we have lost the battle.
Wild boars in the wild in the Yamachiche region in autumn 2023. MELCCFP
Catastrophe averted
In 2016, Quebec ministry biologists averted disaster by capturing a group of wild boars, including a female about to give birth.
Both the relevant ministry and the Quebec Federation of Hunters and Fishermen of Quebec encourage citizens to report sightings of wild boars in the wild to SOS Braconnage (1 800 463-2191 or [email protected]).
Since the last report from Yamachiche on November 29, MELCCFP has listed six observations, but only one has been confirmed. It was about a person who had escaped from a slaughterhouse in L'Épiphanie.
Species of “extreme concern” occur in 38 states and western Canada
Since the wild boar has been subject to constant monitoring in Quebec for ten years, it is an invasive exotic species that is “of great concern and can have detrimental effects on wildlife and the environment” to the government, which is engaging in “concerted actions across North America “ involved in combating its spread.
Every year wild boars escape from their brood and are observed in the wild. However, they do not form an established species as they do in 38 American states, mainly in the south and west of the country. In Canada, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are struggling with uncontrollable wild boar populations.
In addition to its impact on flora and fauna, wild boars transmit nearly 40 parasites and at least 30 diseases, some of which are transmissible to humans, domestic animals, livestock or wild animals. For example, African swine fever, brucellosis, tuberculosis, pseudorabies and trichinellosis.
Some diseases that were once widespread in free-roaming wild boar populations are extremely difficult to eradicate. Others could cause significant harm to the pork industry if transmitted to domestic pigs.
Source: Government of Quebec
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