All wild boars that escaped from Yukon farm now dead, says government
7 broke free from Mendenhall-area farm earlier this year, prompting concerns about environmental damage
The seven wild boars that escaped from a Yukon farm earlier this year are all dead now, according to the Yukon government.
In an email to CBC on Tuesday, government spokesperson Rod Jacob said the last of the animals have been "terminated" — either by their owner or Yukon's Conservation Officer Services.
The animals, also known as Eurasian pigs, went AWOL more than two months ago from a farm west of Whitehorse, in the Mendenhall area.
Weeks later, the Yukon government stepped up efforts to capture or kill the animals and threatened the farmer with penalties if the animals continued to run loose.
Some of the beasts were soon shot dead, but others had apparently gone to ground. Experts warned that the animals were notoriously elusive, and that the escapees could cause serious environmental damage — especially if they managed to reproduce.
The animals were all female, and the Yukon government warned other farmers in the area to keep their domestic pigs secure to prevent any cross-breeding.
On Tuesday, the government said the case of the escaped wild boars "reinforces the need for secure fencing when raising livestock."
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