Sask. agriculture minister pledges action on wild boars

The days of wild boar farming in Saskatchewan may soon be over, with Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud saying he's open to a moratorium or a ban on the porkers.

Wild boars have been a regular topic of conversation at Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities conventions in recent years, and this year's gathering in Saskatoon has been no exception.

Delegates have repeatedly asked the province to do something about boars that have escaped from farms and are now running wild in the bush.

The boars were once seen as a way of diversifying farm income, and the provincial government even encouraged their production.

Now, people like Glen McMillan, who farms near Kipling in the southeast part of the province, wants government to put a stop to their production.

The Kipling region is home to hundreds of wild boars that have escaped farms, survived frigid winters and are thriving, McMillan said, and have become a nuisance.

"Livestock are terrified of them. Cows will run through brand-new fences, they're just terrified of them. Horses are the same way," he said.

The boars also do a lot of damage digging up fields and golf courses, McMillan said. He wants to see a moratorium or a ban on any production of wild boars.

Bjornerud said he wouldn't rule that out.

"It's certainly something I would consider, knowing just how much damage they can cause to farms of all sorts," he said.

"We are going to work with groups like SARM and try to come up with a solution to actually deal with this problem."

It's a provincewide problem and needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible, Bjornerud said.