Farmscape for October 15, 2025

The Coordinator of Squeal on Pigs Manitoba says public awareness of the dangers posed by wild pigs continues to build.
Wild pigs pose a serious environmental risk in that they damage the landscape; they'll eat feeds that other animals rely on, they'll eat small animals and bird’s eggs and, from an agricultural point of view, they carry various diseases including foreign animal diseases such as African Swine Fever.
Dr. Wayne Lees, the Coordinator of Squeal on Pigs Manitoba, says, though media advertising, presentations at various meetings and representation to different organization, we've had a pretty successful public outreach campaign.

Quote-Dr. Wayne Lees-Squeal on Pigs Manitoba:
I think we've managed to get the word out that these animals need to be gotten rid of in terms of their invasive capacity to cause damage.
We've worked with government departments, agriculture and natural resources, we've worked with land owners, with rural municipalities, environmental groups, first nations and Metis organizations.
We really do work on the basis of collaboration.
We work with those folks who have a common goal which is to eradicate these animals from our province.
We really act as the focal point to bring together the different groups about the wild pig issue.
We also collaborate across the country with the other provinces.
We're always sharing information with the other provinces in terms of trying to share maps of where we find the wild pigs, share lesson learned about how to effectively trap them or new techniques in terms of trying to find them so it becomes an ongoing collaborative effort at several different levels as we move forward.

Dr. Lees says  word is getting out to the public, especially to folks who are out on the landscape including nature walkers, landowners and farmers, of the importance of reporting sightings.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers