Thought of the Day - October 19 2021 - Another "Meaty" COVID Issue

Remember a couple of decades ago when farmed wild meat become a novelty on restaurant menus? Bison, ostrich, wild boar, even kangaroo were being featured. Since that time, as the novelty has worn off as did enthusiasm for meat consumption in general, the farms that had enjoyed considerable demand-driven profits started to have difficulty. COVID, and the associated collapse of a significant cross-section of the specialist restaurant business, has been the death blow to many.

So what is a rural farmer, with a field full of bison for which there is no market, to do? One option, I guess, is just leave the gate open. This is what a number of wild boar farms did - most indirectly through lack of fence maintenance or follow-up upon escape. And guess what was the result?

Boar are not native to Canada; they are actually a crossbreed of Eurasian boar and domestic pigs. But rather than dying off during our harsh winters, they just hunkered down in "pigaloos". Thus, we now have yet another invasive species issue.

In case you didn't know, Canadian wild boar are not friendly critters. They are huge (some topping 200 kilos) and come equipped with tusks.

They eat anything, including young deer, livestock, ground-nesting birds and their eggs, and rather than grazing on vegetation, they rip it out of the ground, roots and all. Moreover, their wallowing fouls ponds and wetlands with e.coli and salmonella.

This issue is actually not new but with the COVID boost it will not be long before the numbers of feral hogs across Canada start reaching into the millions. When this accelerating issue gets wider reporting in the press, you can remember this is partially just another consequence of desperate people during COVID times.

Cheers

Cliff