Scotland’s feral pigs are being monitored for African swine fever (ASF), in an initiative led by the country’s nature agency, NatureScot.
Scotland is thought to have a few thousand feral pigs. Wild boar are native to Scotland, but were hunted to extinction about 700 years ago, but over about the last 10 years, populations of free-roaming pigs, a mix of boar and domestic pigs following interbreeding, have become established in Dumfries and Galloway and the Highlands, according to a BBC report. The populations are said to include animals that have escaped from farms or illegally released into the wild.
Nine Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) rangers have been trained by Animal Plant Health Agency (APHA) to take samples from pigs found dead of natural causes, killed on roads or shot in culls, while some staff at Transport Scotland and NatureScot have also received the training. FLS is also working with APHA in a survey of feral pigs in Portclair Forest near Fort Augustus, the report adds.
Since April, FLS rangers have culled 46 feral pigs – two in north east Scotland, 21 in the Highlands and 23 in Dumfries and Galloway/Scottish Borders.
Grant Carson, of FLS’ south region, said: “We have a duty to monitor the health of these animals and act accordingly. We want to do what we can to help and welcome the collaborative working with APHA in the hope that we can establish a system of early indication of infectious diseases arriving in the UK.”
NatureScot wildlife management manager Alastair MacGugan said controlling feral pigs is ‘essential to help reduce disease risks’. “NatureScot has published a series of best practice guidance to enable land managers to undertake control and we encourage them to be vigilant for any signs of disease,” he said.