“Imagine camping out in the scrub, nature calls about midnight and this little fella sneaks up behind you and sniffs you on the butt !” (Refer attachment / photo below).
According to an article in the January 2007 issue of Sporting Shooter, this extremely large feral boar was shot on a cattle station in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The article notes that the giant was first spotted during a helicopter muster on the station. During a subsequent windmill inspection run, the station owner came across the pig and shot it. The scales used to weigh the animal had a maximum capacity of 200 kg (440 lb). However, the station owner estimated that the pig weighed around 220kg (485 lb) dressed. Sporting Shooter estimates the live weight of the boar would have been more than 300kg (660 lb). Although the region where this giant was shot is quite arid, wild pigs in the area are known to grow unusually large.
In Australia, feral pigs are a serious environmental and agricultural pest. Wild pigs destroy the natural habitats of native species, destroy crops and spread noxious weeds. Current wild pig populations originated from domestic pigs that escaped from 19th century European settlements. It is estimated that there are between 13 and 23 million feral pigs spread across large areas of the Australian continent.
