FERAL pigs have been wreaking havoc at Toodyay, threatening property owners, digging up hectares of soil and causing significant damage to national parks, nature reserves and riverbanks.
Shire of Toodyay reserve management officer Greg Warburton estimated the number of feral pigs roaming the area would "run well into the hundreds" with many more unaccounted for.
He said if control measures weren't ramped up it would become a "massive problem" beyond the Shire's control.
Mr Warburton said the feral pigs, which have been sighted and reported at Avon Valley National Park, had made their way up toward Toodyay along the Avon River.
"There's a lot of evidence of them impacting the river bank with their excavations," Mr Warburton said.
"But increasingly, we have received reports, sightings and evidence from areas away from the river, in particular in some of the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) reserves.
"The real hotspot we have at the moment is an area called Rugged Hills Reserve, which is in west Toodyay."
Mr Warburton said the hotspot consisted of a "real suite" of different land tenures including lifestyle, bush blocks, subdivisions, nature reserves and farming land, where the pigs were "arranging far and wide".
He said the pest was spreading and finding areas they could survive in and do quite well out of for feed.
"In the subdivision areas and the hobby farm areas there's usually some pretty good pickings for them," Mr Warburton said.
"They can find quite a lot to eat, they aren't fussy eaters but they do like digging up roots, that's probably why they really like to dig."
Mr Warburton said the pigs were finding their way onto resident's front yards, leaving some concerned for their safety.
He said the animals were black in colour and smaller than a domestic pig in size, reaching about 50 centimetres high at the shoulder.
"We don't receive direct complaints about damage to agricultural infrastructure, they are mainly from people, who are on smaller blocks and are concerned about the presence of these feral pigs.
"A lot of it is to do with the fear of their own personal safety because feral pigs, razorbacks and wild boars have a reputation of being quite fearsome and dangerous.
"So you can understand why people have been a bit anxious.
"In reality, I find the pigs are really quite timid, they will quickly move away if they know human activity is around.
"Having said that, we don't like to take any risks."
Mr Warburton said the pigs were also having a "big environmental impact" and were becoming more prevalent with increased numbers.
He said they were digging up dirt along creek lines, which caused erosion, spreading weeds, carrying diseases and out competing food sources for native animals.
"They are regarded as one of the worst feral animals in terms of environmental impacts, not only in Australia but in other parts of the world as well," Mr Warburton said.
"They are spread out over quite a wide area and as Toodyay has very forested topography, there's plenty of places where they can hide and spread out.
"They aren't that obvious - you don't see them walking across open paddocks and they are quite active at night and probably go undetected a lot of the time."
Mr Warburton said the Shire of Toodyay was doing everything in its power to attract the authorities' interest and to help with some control measures.
He said residents, who believed their properties were under threat, had even formed groups to voice their concerns about the issue.
"They haven't taken any actions yet, but the Shire has supported control measures and have set-up some monitoring with cameras," Mr Warburton said.
"We are planning to set up cameras on private land because we can't do any feral animal management on DBCA land.
"We can only work on private land, where we have the consent of the owner, or Shire-managed land.
"A lot of our private land in the Shire borders on DBCA land, so pigs don't recognise these boundaries and wander back and forth.
"The damage is quite significant."
The Shire plans to use trapping methods to control the pig problem and is working with a feral animal control contractor.
Mr Warburton said the Shire was studying the movement of the pigs to figure out where best to put traps.
He said there was also the possibility of using bait to poison the pigs, however that required a specialist approach and appropriate licensing.
"It is hard not to get them to take the bait because they are a ravenous animal and will eat just about anything," he said.
"But there are also other animals, who are subject to the danger of taking bait, so at this point we wouldn't do any baiting, we would be doing live trapping."
The Shire is looking at a number of trapping designs including a one-way door trap, trap door mechanism and a spiral designed trap.
Mr Warburton said they would be using a conventional box trap and as pigs were very "family orientated animals" the trap would catch a large group at once.
"I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to catch them," he said.
"However you won't get all of them, you might get a family group of six or seven or something like that.
"Pigs are prolific breeders, a mother sow could give birth to 10-15 piglets in a litter.
"I think if the numbers keep building as they seem to be, it will reach a point where it will become a problem that is impossible to get on top of simply by the sheer weight of numbers of these animals.
"It's a bit like other feral animals, where the number has grown so large it is beyond the point we can eradicate them, but we can control them."
Mr Warburton said it was really important that community members, particularly those living out bush or in farming shires, remained vigilant and reported the presence of pigs to the appropriate government department.
"We need to try and hammer the message home that we need to ramp up the control of feral pigs," he said.
"At some point it is going to become a massive problem we are not going to be able to control.
"The environmental impacts and the impacts on agriculture could be very significant."
Toodyay resident Lee Francis, who has lived in the area for almost 20 years, said she first noticed the pig problem on her six-and-a-half acre bush block in February last year.
Her neighbour, whose property adjoins the Rugged Hills Nature Reserve, spoke to her and mentioned he had spotted two black pigs on his property.
Not long after, Ms Francis sighted three piglets "trotting along, outside her front fence".
"I didn't see any adults at that stage, but assumed they were around," she said.
Ms Francis said given she had sighted the pigs near the nature reserve, she reported it to DBCA to take appropriate action.
She then made a second report, after sighting two adult and four smaller feral pigs on her property, which had dug holes behind the house.
"What concerned me was the first time it was three pigs and the next time it was seven or eight.
"They are damaging and dangerous, especially given they had younger ones.
"Camera posts were set up on my property to see whether the animals returned.
"The intention was, if they were seen on the cameras, traps would be set up by the pest control contractor.
"I haven't seen the pigs since, but that could be because they've found water somewhere and they aren't moving as far."
A Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) spokesperson said feral pig impacts and abundance through the agricultural region of WA had increased over recent years.
The spokesperson said community-led biosecurity groups, including Recognised Biosecurity Groups (RBG), within the agricultural region had received increased reports of feral pigs and their impacts from landholders and through the FeralScan reporting app.
Six RBGs in the agricultural region prioritise feral pigs as a pest species and have been assisting landholders with their control over the past five years including the Northern Biosecurity Group, Midlands Biosecurity Group, Central Wheatbelt Biosecurity Group, Peel Harvey Biosecurity Group, Leschenault Biosecurity Group and Blackwood Biosecurity Inc.
In addition, three community feral pig management groups have been active within the South West for up to two decades including Lake Muir Denbarker Community Feral Pig Eradication Group and the Lower Blackwood Vertebrate Pest Management Group and the Donnelly Pest Management Group.
"Feral pigs have been an ongoing issue throughout WA for many decades and can impact on a range of farming practices, including cropping, grazing, horticultural and viticultural enterprises," the DPIRD spokesperson said.
"Feral pigs can cause direct loss of crops due to grazing or digging activities and, occasionally, livestock deaths.
"Indirect impacts, such as disease transmission and soil erosion or reduced water quality, can also occur.
"In some circumstances, these indirect impacts can result in significant costs or losses to farming systems."
The spokesperson said feral pigs were a declared pest and landholders were responsible for managing their abundance and impacts on their property.
They said a range of control measures could be used including baiting, trapping, shooting and exclusion fencing.
"The best approach to managing feral pigs, as with any pest species, is through a co-ordinated community approach that integrates a range of tools.
"DPIRD released the Western Australia Feral Pig Strategy 2020-2025 last year, which outlines a strategic approach for landholders, community groups, and organisations alike to manage feral pigs and their impacts throughout Western Australia."
More information on control methods, including a link to the WA Feral Pig Strategy 2020-2025, is available on the DPIRD website.
Also, pestsmart.org.au/ toolkits/feral-pigs/ offers advice and more information on the best practical methods and tools.
