Boar bounty put in place

A bounty has been placed on the heads of wild boar running loose in northern Alberta.

Daryl Butler, reeve of the County of Lac Ste. Anne, says there are as many as 300 boars in the area, damaging crops, eating feed and posing a danger to people and livestock.

"[The tusks are] what makes them dangerous," he said. "They curl out of their mouths. They can easily by four inches long and curl up over their nose and that gives them a pretty savage weapon."

The animals, which weigh about 136 kilograms, were first brought to the area as livestock themselves, part of the area's attempts to diversify.

"They start out with the odd one escaping from domestic farms, where they raise them, but they multiply very rapidly," Butler said. "They're very hardy. They do extremely well on their own."

Attempts to trap the animals haven't worked – the wily boars are nocturnal, making them harder to catch. So the county has instituted the bounty – hunters will get $50 for each set of ears, and are allowed to keep the meat. The province has already declared the animals pests.