Students learn about invasive pigs and their impacts on BC’s ecosystems and wildlife and play an active tag game to demonstrate some direct impacts on the environment and on native wildlife such as mule deer.
INQUIRY QUESTIONS
- What are invasive pigs and why are they a problem?
- How do invasive pigs impact the environment?
- How do invasive pigs impact wildlife, including mule deer?
- 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)
Science and Health Education
- Daily participation in physical activity at moderate to vigorous intensity levels benefits all aspects of our well-being. (Grades 3-4)
- Daily physical activity enables us to practice skillful movement and helps us develop personal fitness. (Grades 5-6)
Students are expected to:
- Develop and demonstrate safety, fair play, and leadership in physical activities (Grades 3, 4, 5, 6)
- Know how to participate in different types of physical activities, including individual and dual activities, rhythmic activities, and games. (Grade 3, 4, 5, 6)
Background
In Canada, invasive pigs (also called feral pigs, wild boar, wild hogs) 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 as a food source and were often bred with domestic pigs. Many pigs escaped from farms, and thousands were intentionally let loose when the market collapsed in the early 2000’s, primarily in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. In BC, there are thought to be no large established populations of invasive pigs; therefore, it is a critical time to increase awareness about them.
Invasive pigs are smart and adaptable animals with a high reproductive rate. Female pigs can produce 2 litters of six piglets a year, and a piglet can breed after about 6 months, meaning populations can expand rapidly. They are wide ranging and survive harsh Canadian winters by burrowing up to a meter under the snow to keep warm. Invasive pigs live in groups called sounders. Hunting is not an effective strategy: pigs become very wary of humans, and the sounder will split into separate groups, spreading the population 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, water sources 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 like wild ducks, amphibians and even young deer.
- Disease transmission: They can carry and spread dozens of 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.
Mule Deer
Mule Deer are a widespread and adaptable native species that inhabit a broad range of habitats from coastal BC to the interior. They live in forested areas, grasslands and mountain slopes. They eat a variety of plant foods, including grasses, fireweed, ferns, berries, willows and lichens. They are vital members of their ecosystems and provide food for key predator species such as cougars and wolves. They are also an important traditional food for many First Nations and other BC communities.
Materials
- A large playing area: the school yard, field or gym.
- Invasive Pig Pictures
- Two different coloured pinnies (enough for all players)
- Mule Deer Pictures
- Habitat Tokens: Green tokens or cards that represent habitats such as forests and grasslands. Allow 100 tokens for a class of 25 students. (adjust numbers accordingly for smaller groups: 4 per player)
- Wild Food Tokens: Red tokens or cards that represent wild foods like grasses, roots, nuts, berries and lichen that deer like to eat. Allow 125 tokens for a class of 25 students. (or 5 per player)
- Invasive Pig Food Tokens: Blue tokens or cards that represent foods that pigs (but not deer) eat: e.g. small animals, birds’ eggs, insects. Allow 50 tokens for a class of 25 students (or 2 per player)
- Small paper or plastic bags: one per student
Procedure
- Discussion: Discuss the term invasive species with students and list any on the board that they know about.
- Introduce invasive pigs: talk about how boars from Europe and Asia got to Canada and how they became wild (escaped from farms, or released).
- Show students how to recognize invasive wild pigs and differentiate them from domestic pigs: usually bigger, may have hairy coats and tusks. Show some photos or videos (Invasive Pigs Photo Page and the Resources Section).
- Impacts: Discuss how invasive pigs can damage crops, destroy wetlands and compete with native animals for food. Pigs eat wild grasses, roots and berries, small animals like mice and frogs, the eggs of ground-nesting birds like ducks and wrens, and even the young of wild animals such as fawns!
- Talk about ways to prevent the spread of invasive pigs (e.g., responsible pet ownership, not releasing domestic pigs into the wild, reporting any that you see).
- Tell the students that they will be playing a game where two invasive pigs are introduced into a forested area where a population of mule deer live. Show some photos of mule deer (Mule Deer Photo Page). The game’s habitat is represented by green tokens or cards. Talk about what deer eat and what they need to survive (forested areas and grasslands for food, water and shelter). Each deer needs to collect two green habitat tokens during the game. Show students the red tokens and talk about the deer foods they represent – they will need to collect three red food tokens each. Then talk about what invasive pigs like to eat, and show them the blue tokens, stressing that the deer can only eat the red ones while pigs, being omnivores, can eat the red and blue tokens. The pigs need to collect three food tokens as well as three habitat tokens. This represents the damage invasive pigs cause to the environment, as they can destroy habitats through digging and wallowing, and by consuming foods that native animals need to survive. Once the pigs have met their food and habitat requirements, they can “reproduce” – two pigs can have two litters of six piglets a year!
The Tag Game: Pig Pandemonium – Pigs Gone Hog Wild!
- Divide the class up: Two players are designated as “Invasive Pigs” and wear the corresponding pinnie or tag. The rest of the class are mule deer and wear the other colour pinnies. Give each student a small bag to collect their tokens in.
- Scatter all the habitat and wild food tokens widely all around the playing area.
The Play: Round One – First Year
- Give the students their instructions: The “Mule Deer” are to wander about the playing area: they each need to collect three red food tokens and two green habitat tokens to survive. The two “Invasive Pigs” also need three food tokens to survive, but they can “eat” both the blue and red tokens. The pigs need to also collect three green habitat tokens, the extra token represents the habitat destroyed by their digging practices.
- Mule Deer collect 2 green habitat tokens and 3 red food tokens
- Invasive Pigs collect 3 green habitat tokens and 3 red or blue food tokens
- Start: Allow all the students to enter the playing area and collect up their needed tokens in their individual bags.
Round Two: The Chase!
- Have all players stand still once they have collected their required number of tokens. How does the amount of “habitat” and “food” that is left look now? (there should be lots of everything still available). Then announce that the invasive pigs have had a successful year finding lots of food in the forested habitat and are now reproducing: two pigs can have two litters of six piglets a year, meaning 12 more pigs in the habitat! Let the “pigs” know that they can tag six people each.
- Tag game: The invasive pigs are now “it”, and chase and tag six deer each. When a deer is tagged they “freeze” in place and wait until the round is complete. Finish the round once all 12 “new invasive pigs” have been caught. Give the mule deer that were tagged new “Invasive Pig” pinnies (they should also keep any tokens they have collected as deer).
- Gather the students together and discuss what happened: Explain that 12 of the “mule deer” have now become pigs, as invasive pigs can reproduce much more rapidly than mule deer, who generally have one or two fawns a year. How many wild pigs are there now? How does the “habitat” and “food” situation look? Is there much food left for the deer? What about invasive pig food? Do you think the mule deer can find enough food and places to live? How about the pigs?
Round Three: Year Two
- Start the round: all the “Invasive Pigs” and remaining “Deer” now head out to collect another set of food and habitat tokens: remind the players of what they need to collect to survive during this next year, and that the “new” pigs can now collect both red and blue food tokens and that they need three habitat tokens each.
- Mule Deer collect 2 green habitat tokens and 3 red food tokens
- Invasive Pigs collect 3 green habitat tokens and 3 red or blue food tokens
- All players can keep the habitat and food tokens they have already collected in their bags – this represents the food and habitat that has been “used” by the animals.
- Once a pig has collected its next set of six tokens, they can also tag “deer”. This represents the lack of food and habitat now available to the deer, and the possibility that the invasive pigs have eaten some mule deer fawns…! (this point can be optional depending on the students)
- When a mule deer is tagged, they also become an “Invasive Pig”, and must move to the side, get a new pinny and then return to the game. This represents the lack of food available to the deer and the growing numbers of pigs in the area. The round ends when there are no more habitat tokens or no more mule deer – whatever comes first.
- Gather the students together and discuss what happened: Are there any deer left? What do you think happened to the deer? (outcompeted for habitat food; fawn deaths). Discuss the areas where the deer live and what they eat. Is there enough food left for the deer? What about habitat tokens – are there any left? (they should have all been collected by now). What happened to the habitat? (destroyed by a large number of invasive pigs rooting, digging, wallowing and eating). And how many pigs are there now from just those first two?
Round Four: Invasive Pig Management! (Optional)
- Invasive pig management time! Begin the game again with two “invasive pigs” and the rest of the students as mule deer. In secret, assign two “deer” to be wildlife biologists/invasive species experts. Keep their identity a secret.
- Play the first two rounds of the game until there are 12 more pigs added to the game. The two biologists represent pig traps – they can now tag and trap wild pigs! They can wait until a pig tries to tag them – then say “PIG TRAP!” and send the pig to the sidelines.
- Once a pig is captured, their food and habitat tokens go back onto the playing area to represent habitat restoration!
- Once their “identity” is discovered, the two biologists can chase and tag pigs to catch them and send them out of the game. The game ends when all the pigs are either trapped or tagged, and their tokens returned to the playing field. By removing the invasive pigs from the area, the habitat can then recover.
Debrief Questions
Discuss what happens to deer when there are no invasive pigs in their habitat: who are their predators (cougars, wolves, humans). Why did the deer do so poorly once the pigs arrived? (outcompeted for food, their habitat destroyed). Why did the pigs do so well? (pigs eat a variety of foods, reproduce rapidly). What happened to the habitat? (pigs root and dig up plants, wetlands and grasses, destroy much of the area, eat most of the food). What happens when we remove all the invasive pigs from a habitat? Can the deer now thrive? Why must we remove all the pigs – what will happen if a few are left behind?
Additional Resources
- Squeal on Pigs (ISCBC)
- Feral pig Factsheet (ISCBC)
- Invasive Species Alert! Feral Pigs (BC Government)
- Experts urge action on feral pig problem in regions of B.C. (5:00; 2016)
