Hunters invited to help clear pigs from park

Too many wild boars are roaming Moose Mountain Provincial Park and hunters are being allowed in to relieve the problem.

"We have evidence here of where they've uprooted soil," says Conservation Officer Ryan Krienke, pointing to holes dug in the ground. Krienke isn't sure how many there are in the vast wildlands, but he says it's too many.

The animals have escaped from nearby livestock farms. They're a prolific species and notoriously destructive. Their feeding habits uproot wetlands and destroy farm crops and wild boars have also been known to charge cattle and people.

According to officials they aren't easy to get rid of.

"It doesn't have a predator and no actual disease to control their numbers," says Saskatchewan Environment spokesperson Brad Tokaruk.

To get rid of them, park officials are now issuing hunting licenses within park boundaries where animals are usually protected.

Hunters have been pouring in to get the licenses, but officials say it won't be enough to eradicate the boars. They say the next step will likely be a concentrated trapping effort.

Saskatchewan isn't the first province to have this problem. Last year Manitoba granted a wide open hunting season across the province on the animal. It's something officials here want to avoid.

"It's starting here and that's why we're so concerned about it..we don't want to have to deal with it the same way the other provinces have had to," says Tokaruk.