Agricultural
3 February, 2026
North East Downs Landcare wants to get on top of pigs
North East Downs (NED) Landcare Group has recently bought a pig trap for the purpose of cracking down on feral swine in the rural areas surrounding Oakey.
Darling Downs - South West Queensland Feral Pig Coordinator, John Scriven addressed a gathering of farmers and NED Landcare members last week and demonstrated how the trap worked.
Scriven is the only government-authorised feral pig controller in South West Queensland or the Darling Downs and says that people paradoxically either tell him he’s not doing enough, or remark that they don’t know how he does it.
The current Government-funded program is sponsored by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries' Feral Pest Initiative.
Feral pigs are a perennial problem for farmers as they eat crop, degrade soil, prey on native fauna and spread diseases.
Business Queensland (BQ) says in 2021, it was estimated that Queensland had up to 2.3 million feral pigs.
BQ says there are several ‘tells’ to work out the difference between feral and domestic pigs.
“(Feral) pig species are typically smaller, leaner and more muscular than domestic pig species, with well developed shoulders and neck, and smaller, shorter hindquarters.
“(Their) snouts and tusks are longer and larger, tails are straighter, ears are smaller and mostly pricked, and their back is much narrower than that of domestic pig.
“(A feral pig’s) body is usually covered in sparse, coarse hair and their coat is usually black, buff, or black-and-white spotted.
“(They) are generally shy and nocturnal but can be active any time of day.
“Juveniles may be striped, while old boars (razorbacks) have large heads and shoulders, and raised, prominent backbones.”
To control feral pigs, trapping is most useful in populated areas, on smaller properties (<5,000ha), and where pig numbers are low.
NED’s new ‘pig brig’ trap is made up of a 6 metre diameter base net as well as a vinyl-coated easy pull cable seam. The trap’s ‘boar shield’ is a heavy-duty, double wall of knotless net that keeps big boars inside.
The trap kit includes:
- 10 external ground anchors, 1 anchor driver, 5 internal anchor stakes, 10 double-hooked cam straps, 10 Star-pot (Y-post) mounts, and zip ties. Star-posts are not included. If you use trees, you may not need them.
As reported last September, Scriven’s research has revealed that feral pigs aren't moving around as much as previously thought, but that a pig’s acute sense of smell enables it to avoid humans.
“A 70 per cent yearly reduction is the minimum in the good season (which we have had the last four years) to keep population stable,” he said in September 2025.
“During drought periods the percentage number (required to keep the population at current levels) reduces.
“A 90 per cent yearly reduction will crash the population.”
If you'd like to hire the pig trap, contact Graham Cooke on 0429 328 681 or Glenys Bowtell on 0428 751 070.
