Invasive Species Council of British Columbia

For Educators

Habitat Hit – Invasive Pig Impacts

Grade: 4 to 7

Duration: 1-2 hours

Setting: Indoor

Subjects: Arts Education, Science

Physical Activity: No

Students analyze images of healthy habitats and those impacted by invasive pigs to understand some impacts of this high priority invasive species. Then students do an art project showing a healthy habitat overlaid with a stencil outline of an invasive pig. 

Inquiry Questions 
  • How did pigs become invasive in Canada and why are they a problem? 
  • How do invasive pigs impact the environment? 
  • What can I do to help protect nature in my community?  
BC Curriculum Links

Science Big Ideas

  • All living things sense and respond to their environment (Grade 4) 
  • Multicellular organisms have organ systems that enable them to survive and interact within their environment (Grade 5) 
  • Multicellular organisms rely on internal systems to survive, reproduce, and interact with their environment (Grade 6) 
  • Evolution by natural selection provides an explanation for the diversity and survival of living things (Grade 7) 
Materials  
  • Paper, pencil crayons or watercolour paints; thin tipped Sharpies/black, permanent markers  

Activity Downloads

Background

Invasive Pigs

In Canada, invasive pigs (also called feral pigs, wild boar, wild hogs, among other names), are any pigs that are not fenced or under control by people. There are no native pigs in Canada. European wild boar were brought to Canada in 1980 to be farmed as a food source. They were often bred with domestic pigs. Many pigs escaped from farming, and tens of thousands of these animals were intentionally let loose when the market collapsed in the early 2000’s, primarily in the prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. In BC, low numbers of wild pigs have been reported on Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, Thompson Okanagan, Cariboo-Chilcotin, Peace, and Kootenay regions. These are not thought to be established populations of invasive pigs; it is a critical time to prevent the spread and increase awareness about them.  

Invasive pigs are smart and highly adaptable animals with a high reproductive rate. They can move a distance of a marathon in a day and can easily survive a harsh Canadian winter by burrowing up to a meter under the snow to keep warm. Invasive pigs live in a group called a sounder, which includes adult females and young. Female pigs can produce 2 litters a year with about 6 piglets in a litter. A piglet will become reproductively mature after about 6 months and they can breed all year round. Hunting is not an effective management strategy for invasive pigs because it causes the sounder to split into separate groups, increasing the population and spreading even further.  

Invasive pigs are considered one of the most destructive invasive species in North America.  Their impacts include:  

  • Habitat destruction: They root and wallow, damaging forests, wetlands, and agricultural land. 
  • Competition with native species: They compete with native animals for food and resources. 
  • Predation: They can prey on native animals and their eggs, including ground-nesting birds, young deer and amphibians. 
  • Disease transmission: They can carry and spread numerous diseases to livestock and wildlife, including deadly African swine fever and Foot and Mouth Disease. 
  • Impacts on agriculture: They damage crops, can harass livestock, and cause economic losses for farmers.

Healthy and Unhealthy Habitats 

All living organisms need certain things in order to survive and reproduce. This includes food, water, shelter, and space, in a suitable arrangement. These components together are called a habitat. For example, a bear needs a variety of foods to eat at different times of the year, such as berries and salmon. It also needs forests and a den in which to hibernate in the winter. Bears require large areas of space that they live and travel within, in order to have all of their basic needs met and to find a mate and reproduce. A habitat for a plant must have the right amount and combination of sunlight, temperature, soil nutrients, and water.  

Habitats, like living organisms, can be healthy or unhealthy. A healthy habitat supports a diversity of life that is all interconnected. When an invasive species is introduced to an area, it negatively impacts the native species and habitats in many ways, such as by spreading disease, by directly eating or killing native species, or by outcompeting them by taking more of their fair share of food, water, shelter, or space. Some invasive species change ecosystem processes, causing increased fire frequency or increased sedimentation in lakes and ponds. For example, Scotch broom is flammable, increasing fire frequency and intensity. Sometimes the impacts of invasive species on native species and habitats may be obvious and dramatic. In other cases, the impacts of invasive species on native species or habitats aren’t noticeable to the casual observer. Many invasive plants are beautiful and invasive animals, like baby wild pigs, are cute. They are not “evil” or “bad”, but simply doing what they are adapted to do, and are in the wrong place, where they cause harm to the environment, economy, and community. 

Preparation 
  • Download Healthy-Unhealthy Images to show as a slide show, with an overhead projector, or to print and distribute to student groups.  
  • Make copies of Invasive Pig Stencils; at least enough for one stencil per several students.  
Procedure 

Part 1. Image Analysis 

Students look at paired images of healthy habitats and those impacted by invasive pigs (unhealthy habitats) to understand some impacts of invasive pigs.  

  1. Make two columns on the board for “healthy” and “unhealthy”. How does one feel, act, and look when one is healthy or unhealthy?  Is sick the same as unhealthy? (For example, one may be unhealthy without being sick, but over time being unhealthy might lead to sickness).  If you have a pet, how can you tell if your pet is healthy or unhealthy? What about a plant in your house, garden, or in the wild?  Write the descriptions and characteristics of healthy and unhealthy in the appropriate column on the board.  (Note: Keep the conversation impersonal and light. The focus could be more on plants and animals in the wild than on people, if more appropriate.) 
  1. Next discuss what a healthy habitat would look like.  Remind students of the components of a habitat and what all living things need in order to survive (food, water, shelter, and space, in a suitable arrangement). Have students visualize their favourite place in nature, such as a forest, lake, grassland or other green space.  Students could discuss their special place in small groups. What are some signs that their special place is healthy or unhealthy?  Students may mention things like pollution or garbage.  Also ask about the animals and plants that typically live at their special place, what they need to survive and what would happen if their needs weren’t met.  How might someone know if their special place in nature wasn’t healthy? Remember that sometimes it is difficult to tell if a habitat is healthy or unhealthy. Introduce the concept of invasive species if students aren’t already familiar with them. An invasive species is a living organism that is introduced to an area to which they are not native, and where they spread and take over, causing harm to the environment, economy, or community. Many invasive species are beautiful! Sometimes areas that are impacted by invasive species look colourful and pretty, such as an expansive meadow of flowering hawkweed or Oxeye daisy. Large areas dominated by one species may in fact indicate that an invasive species has taken over an area, with negative impacts on native species and habitats. 
  1. Share that today we are going to focus on one particular invasive species, the invasive wild pig, which is considered one of the most destructive invasive species in North America. Share some information on invasive pigs from the Background or Additional Resources Section. 
  1. Share the Healthy-Unhealthy Images. Have students compare and contrast the pairs of images while discussing in small groups.  Another option is to cut out the descriptive text for students in the table on the Healthy-Unhealthy Images Copy Page and have students match the text to the appropriate image.  Some discussion questions: 
        • How can you tell if invasive pigs were here?  What signs do they leave behind? What were they doing?
        • How do you think the invasive pigs impact the habitat? How might they impact native wildlife? 
        • How do invasive pigs impact people and communities?  

        Part 2. Art Project 

        Students make a drawing of a healthy habitat, and then overlay outline of an invasive pig that has an impact on that habitat.  

        1. Tell the students they are going to draw a healthy habitat of their choice. Give them options of drawing a scene from a forest, garden/farm, wetland, or grassland.   
        1. Review or make a list of the types of native species that might be commonly found in each habitat type. Consider plants, fungi, various types of invertebrates (such as worms, bees, butterflies, dragonflies, slugs, snails, crabs, sea stars, etc.), fish, amphibians and reptiles, birds, and mammals.  Use local field guides if desired, or visit the Ecomap from the Sierra Club of BC.   
        1. Students should draw their healthy habitat so that it includes numerous types of plants and animals that could be found there.  It isn’t critical to know specific details on species; encourage students to include drawing natural life with a diversity of colours, shapes, sizes, and forms.  People could also be in their drawing, doing activities that they would do in that place (such as fishing, hiking, gathering fruit and berries).   
        1. After their healthy habitat is completed, the invasive pigs arrive.  Students use a thin-tipped black marker/Sharpie to outline the stencil of the invasive species for their habitat in numerous places across their drawing. Stencils could be drawn directly on the artwork or onto a sheet protector overlay.  
        1. Display the artwork and share photos of them with us at education@bcinvasives.ca
        Extensions 
        • Have students write a story about their habitat and the changes that occurred there over time once invasive pigs arrived.  Can they give their story a “happy ending”? How was the habitat restored to a healthy state?  
        • Get outdoors! Get to know a habitat near you and the species that call it home, including native and invasive animals and plants.  
        Additional Resources 
        Related Activities