Boar owner fined

Thursday, January 28, 2010

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

A Russell County man blames the weather for the escape of his wild boar herd. He says the incident was an accident.

That incident cost Heinz Evermann $1,000. He was fined for failing to notify the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources that the animals had escaped.

Evermann, who farms 32 acres near Embrun, about 40 kilometres east of Ottawa, says 16 boars escaped in the spring of 2008 because of deep, late-season snows that had collected along their pen’s electric fence line. 

“It’s not good that I lost them, but what could I do?” he says.

Evermann says the animals were the last of his herd that had, at its high point about 10 years ago, numbered 180. He reduced the herd because he was having troubles keeping the animals contained. 

Evermann says he had sold boars to the Prime Minister, Governor General and “lots of restaurants” for as much as $20-25 per kilogram, dressed. 

A Natural Resources news release states the 16 escaped boars were all eventually killed either through vehicle collisions or by predators or hunters with Evermann’s consent.

The ministry charged Evermann after a conservation officer visited his property in August 2008. 

“Escaped animals such as wild boars can cause tremendous ecological damage to native ecosystems because of the competition for habitat, food and the possibility they might introduce disease into native wildlife populations,” the release says.

Evermann says he didn’t know he was supposed to report the animals’ escape. 

On January 21, he pleaded guilty to the offence under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act. BF