B.C. declares war on feral pigs

They're "aggressive" and "invasive". They can also cause "significant damage" and spread infectious diseases.

Some of them have escaped and been spotted in the wilds of the Lower Mainland, Kamloops, Okanagan, Peace, and Kootenay regions.

No, the B.C. government's isn't talking about some mythical ecoterrorist network. Its news release, issued today (March 20), is all about feral pigs.

You see, the government wants these animals dead, so it's making it legal for licensed hunters to kill them "anywhere in the province".

Here's the rationale:

Feral pigs can cause significant damage to local ecosystems by competing with local wildlife for forage, damaging crops, uprooting native vegetation and eating the eggs of ground nesting birds. They can also be the source of infectious diseases and parasites which can be harmful to wildlife, livestock and human health.

Designating feral pigs as Schedule C under the Wildlife Act's Designation and Exemption Regulation will assist in reducing their numbers and also provide hunters an opportunity to harvest them that was not previously available. Feral pigs can be aggressive, and may pose a threat to the public or a hunter if they are wounded. Accordingly, the regulation requires anyone harvesting a feral pig to possess a valid hunting licence, to ensure only trained and certified hunters harvest feral pigs.

The province has also just slated European wall lizards and non-native turtles for death by adding them to Schedule C of the Designation and Exemption Regulation.

Already on the list of creatures okay to shoot anywhere—according to the government, at least—are crows (except ravens), rock doves (better known as pigeons), house sparrows (good god), European rabbits (they're the worst), bullfrogs (tasty), and North American opossums (they only belong in children's books).

Happy hunting?