Wild boars plaguing Saskatchewan farmers

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REGINA, Saskatchewan, March 11 (UPI) -- Canadian farmers in Saskatchewan are calling for more aggressive measures to cull some 2,000 fast-breeding wild boars playing havoc with livestock and crops.

At a Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities conference this week, attendees called not only for more provincial support in eliminating the aggressive boars but also a ban on the farming of them, the Globe and Mail reported from Regina.

The province began allowing boar farms in the late 1970s but since the escape rate has been about 3 percent and females can have as many as 12 piglets per litter, the report said.

Ken Engel, executive director of the association, said the razor-tusked swine will eat anything.

"They are a threat to society," he said. "We should close down the farms and eradicate the escapees, that's what this resolution calls for."

Darrell Crabbe, executive director of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, agreed.

"They kill and eat anything," Crabbe said. "They'll kill fawns and ground-nesting birds. They'll wreck crops and put the chase on cattle. They're not afraid of anything or anybody."