Exploding population of 'super hogs' could spill over to the US from Canada and cause 'an ecological train wreck'

Canada's exploding population of 'super pigs' could spill over into the US, and experts fear the migration will cause 'an ecological train wreck.'

The feral hogs are crossbreeds that combine the survival skills of wild Eurasian boar with domestic swine's size and high fertility, making them 'the most invasive animal on the planet.'

Wild pigs can devastate agriculture and spread diseases to hog farms, like African swine fever, which is deadly to both domestic and feral animals - it does not transmit to humans.

Canadian researchers helping to solve the problem have documented at least 62,000 wild pig sightings, with one just 18 miles from Minnesota.

Ruth Aschim, a PhD student at the University of Saskatchewan (USask), said: 'Wild pigs are ecological train wrecks. 

'They are prolific breeders, making them a highly successful invasive species.

'Wild pigs can cause soil erosion, degrade water quality, destroy crops, and prey on small mammals, amphibians and birds.'

Pigs are not native to North America but were brought from Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s to diversify Canadian livestock production. 

Others were imported as 'penned games' for shooting.

The hybrid wild pigs have rapidly multiplied and spread, making them Canada's most prolific invasive mammal.

And they typically weigh between 120 and 250 pounds. 

The wild boars are roaming Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba - and only eradication in Alberta is possible, researchers said, due to a sow having six piglets in a litter and raising two litters in a year.

Ryan Brook, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan and one of Canada's leading authorities on the problem, said that 65 percent or more of a wild pig population could be killed yearly and will still increase.

Canada's pig problem dates back to the 1980s when officials encouraged farmers to raise wild boar. 

When the market collapsed in 2001, some farmers took vengeance by cutting fences and letting the animals free into the wild. 

And while many believed the invasive species would eventually die off, the pigs adapted to be the ultimate survivors of Canadian winters.

They can endure frigid temperatures and breed in any season, living in 'pigloos' burrowed into the snow.

'Nobody should be surprised when pigs start walking across that border if they haven't already,' Brook said. 'The question is: What will be done about it?'

Brook said Montana has been the most serious about keeping wild pigs out. It banned raising and transporting wild pigs within the state.

'The only path forward is you have to be really aggressive and use all the tools in the toolbox,' Brook said.