Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives

Wild Boar in Manitoba

The wild boar is one of nine species belonging to the pig family. It is the ancestor of the domestic pig. Although the wild boar is native to Europe, Asia and North Africa, it has been in North America since the early 1800s. The terms "full bloods" and "standards" are used to describe the purity of the wild boar. Full bloods are considered to be pure wild boar with no domestic pig in their background. Standards meet the physical requirements of wild boar but may have some domestic pig in their genetic make up. There has been a great deal of inter-breeding between wild boar and the domestic pig over the past 150 years. The North American standard wild boar is estimated to be 60-70% wild boar and 30-40% domestic pig.

Raising wild boar in captivity began in the mid 1980s in Manitoba. In 1991 there were approximately 15-20 producers. Today there are about 60 producers in Manitoba who collectively own over 2,000 breeding animals.