May 28, 2018 Re: Yellowhead County Prohibited Animals Bylaw TO: ASB CHAIRS AND AGRICULTURAL FIELDMEN OF LAC STE ANNE AND WOODLANDS COUNTIES; Wild Boar first arrived in Canada in the late 1970's for farming purposes. Some of the pigs escaped from farms, while others were released by farmers to create hunting opportunities. More were brought to Alberta in the late 1990’s for breeding and game farming. Escaped Wild Boar are likely to thrive if released in Alberta, and officials have warned of the dangers of these animal and the Province of Alberta declared Wild Boar a pest in 2008. Yellowhead County shares your picturesque landscape with our muskeg, creeks, rivers and abundance of brush - and extensive crown land - is a perfect environment for Wild Boar to survive and thrive, with no major predators to keep their numbers in check. They tend to root and urinate in agricultural fields, damaging crops and stored agricultural feed. They eat most native birds and can quickly destroy ecologically sensitive areas. In April of this year Yellowhead County Council unanimously passed a bylaw prohibiting the raising/keeping of Wild Boar within Yellowhead County. The objective of this bylaw was to prevent the establishment of any more Wild Boar operations in Yellowhead County, as a proactive step in protecting the environment, agricultural industry, ratepayers and communities within Yellowhead County. Council believes that this bylaw would allow the County to be more clear and responsive to the current Wild Boar issue as well as with any future prohibited animals if and when they may come up. The following Municipalities have created or amended bylaws regulating prohibited animals specifically including Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) within their boundaries; Athabasca County, Thorhild County, M.D of Spirit River No. 133, Red Deer County, and Mountain View County. At this time Yellowhead County Agricultural Service Board (ASB) and Council would like to encourage our neighboring municipalities to consider a similar bylaw for their own municipalities. If you have any questions regarding this bylaw please contact Yellowhead Counties Agricultural Fieldman Jennifer Benson. Bob Mitchell Agricultural Service Board Chair Yellowhead County 2716 – 1st Avenue, Edson, Alberta, Canada T7E 1N9 Phone (Toll Free) 1-800-665-6030 or 780-723-4800 .