Feral pigs

Feral pig

Feral pigs are a serious environmental and agricultural pest across Australia. They are found in all states and territories, particularly around wetlands and river systems.

They prey on native animals and plants, dig up large expanses of soil and vegetation in search of food and foul fresh water. Feral pigs will eat many things including small mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs, crayfish, eggs, earthworms and other invertebrates, and all parts of plants including the fruit, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs and foliage.

Feral pigs can host animal diseases that can be transmitted to other species. In dirt on their feet and fur, they can also spread plant pathogens such as Phytophthora cinnamomi, which causes plant dieback.

Feral pigs move around to new sites with food and water, and can breed rapidly to recover from control programs or droughts, and the impacts of feral pigs are intensified when their populations are large.

Key threatening process under the EPBC Act

Predation, habitat degradation, competition and disease transmission by feral pigs was listed as a key threatening process under section 168 of the EPBC Act in 2002.

• Predation, habitat degradation, competition and disease transmission by feral pigs

Threat Abatement Plan

The Threat abatement plan for the predation, habitat degradation, competition and disease transmission by feral pigs (2017) sets out a national framework to guide coordinated actions to contain the spread of this threatening process and manage the impact on threatened species and ecological communities as listed under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

This plan should be read in conjunction with the publication Background document for the threat abatement plan for predation, habitat degradation, competition and disease transmission by feral pigs. The background document provides information on feral pig characteristics, biology and distribution; impacts on environmental, economic, social and cultural values; and current management practices and measures.

• Threat Abatement Plan for predation, habitat degradation, competition and disease transmission by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) (2017)

Maps of feral pig impacts

The maps below show the number of threatened species and ecological communities impacted on, or potentially impacted on, by feral pigs within their current range (note, the maps do not show the individual species or ecological communities). The current range of pigs is identified in :

• Assessing invasive animals in Australia

Information on threatened species and ecological communities is sourced from the Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT).

Maps showing locations of feral pig impacts

National maps
Number of threatened species affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 1.22 MB)	Number of threatened ecological communities affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 1.19 MB)
New South Wales maps
NSW - Number of threatened species affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 2.08 MB)	NSW - Number of threatened ecological communities affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 2.08 MB)
Northern Territory maps;
NT - Number of threatened species affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 599.43 KB)	NT - Number of threatened ecological communities affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 597.05 KB)
Queensland maps
Queensland - Number of threatened species affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 1.12 MB)	Queensland - Number of threatened ecological communities affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 1.11 MB)
South Australia maps
South Australia - Number of threatened species affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 1.12 MB)	South Australia - Number of threatened ecological communities affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 1.12 MB)
Tasmania maps
Tasmania - Number of threatened species affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 1.21 MB)	Tasmania - Number of threatened ecological communities affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 1.06 MB)
Victoria maps
Victoria - Number of threatened species affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 1.79 MB)	Victoria - Number of threatened ecological communities affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 1.8 MB)
Western Australia maps
Western Australia - Number of threatened species affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 919.55 KB)	Western Australia - Number of threatened ecological communities affected by feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the pig's current range (PDF - 917.02 KB)

Further information

• More feral pigs publications