Determined to keep its rural municipality free from roaming massive pests, Red Deer County has renewed its agreement with the Alberta government to participate in the Wild Boar at Large Bounty Program.
“We still participate in the bounty program, which says that if we do get some at large we will participate in the provincial program, which pays $50 for a set of ears,” said Art Preachuk, the agricultural services manager for Red Deer County. “The ears would verify that they got one of them.”
Feral wild boars have long been a threat to the safety of people and property. They were classed as pests in 2008 under Alberta's Agricultural Pest Act, and can be shot or snared without a licence. Since that time Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD), with the cooperation of agricultural service boards across the province, initiated the bounty program and Red Deer County became a participant.
Municipalities that participate in the bounty program sign an agreement with the province that they will pay hunters and collect data to determine the extent of the infestation throughout the province. When hunters collect their money they must sign a declaration that states the roaming boar was killed humanely and legally, and say where the animal was killed.
On Sept. 2, Red Deer County council agreed to renew its participation in the program, a three-year agreement that was sent to all rural municipalities. The county's agriculture services department is an administrative partner in the program. It is responsible for handling the submitted ears, tracking the locations of harvested wild boars and issuing payments to hunters, which are ultimately reimbursed to the county.
However, county council was told the municipality has only distributed funds on one occasion, and that was in early 2009. There are currently no known wild board populations in the county, council was told.
Preachuk said the last time wild boars were problematic in the county was in 2008 when hunters and rural municipal officials were forced to eradicate a group of 20 of the marauding beasts, which can achieve a mass of up to 400 pounds and cause serious issues with farmers and ranchers.
“It was for a short period. The farmers got together and got most of them. We helped get rid of the rest and since the summer of 2008 we haven't had any confirmed sightings,” said Preachuk. “When they get on the loose in the wild they get into fields, crops and gardens. They root up everything, dig holes and cause a lot of problems. They get to nesting in a canola or grain field and dig pits and if you drive into that with a big machine you could do some big damage.”
Council was told the cost of administrating the program would continue to be “minimal”, with some staff time dedicated to assisting compensation and reporting to the province. But council was also told that the cost could be “very high”, if the program was not available.
