The Australian Feral Pig

Feral pigs are probably Australia’s most important game animal and for farmers, one of our most serious pests. On any given weekend, let alone work days, there are thousands, probably tens of thousands, of keen hunters hunting pigs with firearms, bows and dogs.

Scientific name and origins of feral pigs in Australia

FERAL animals are domestic ones which have escaped or released into the wild and are living more or less as a wild animal, or one that is descended from such animals. The wild or feral pigs we hunt in Australia are descendants of various breeds of Sus scrofa, the domestic pig. The interpretation of their scientific name is pretty simple: Sus is Latin for “pig” and scrofa means “breeding sow”.

Records around Australia indicate the presence of domestic pigs following the arrival of European settlers. Pigs were kept at settlements, often unrestrained and in semi-feral conditions. From these areas