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How to identify wild boar

Learn to identify wild boar and signs of their activity.

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Wild boar in Alberta

The government is changing how it manages wild boar to protect Alberta’s livestock industry.

The following amendments to the Pest and Nuisance Control Regulation are in force as of December 1, 2025:

Overview

Detection and monitoring are key to eliminating the threat of invasive wild boar in Alberta. You can help by learning to identify wild boar and signs of their activity and reporting sightings.

What wild boar look like

Look for the following features to help identify wild boar:

  • elongated snout with flat facial profile (domestic pigs often have a shorter, dished facial profile)
  • dark coat colour with light tipped bristles
  • coarse hair or ridge along the back
  • muscular shoulders with small hams or loins
  • straight tail
  • erect ears
  • striped piglets

Examples of wild boar

All photos are taken in Alberta

Wild boar facing the camera in a clearing in the forest at night
Wild boar climbing up from a dried creek bed in late fall or early winter
Two wild board facing each other in a clearing at night
Side profile of wild boar in a clearing in a forest at night
Wild boar behind small tree in a forest at night
A group of three wild boars in a clearing in the forest, taken at night
Wild boar facing the camera behind a fallen log in the forest
Two wild boars, one larger than the other, both facing to the left with a fallen tree in between the two
Group of 12 boars in a circle with some rooting in the ground in a clearing

Examples of domestic pigs that may be mistaken for wild boar

Photo of a domestic pig

Domestic pig, likely a Duroc cross. Credit: Les Myers

Photo of a pot belly pig

Domestic Pot-bellied pig. Credit: Brad Semeniuk

Photo of pigs in a field

Domestic pig, likely a Large Black cross. Credit: Daniel Arndt

Photo of domestic Mangalica pigs

Domestic Mangalica pigs. Credit: Submitted photo.

Hair

If wild boar are in the area you will find hair caught on fence lines and on the bark of trees where they rub. The coarse guard hairs of wild boar and domestic pigs have a distinctive fork or split at the ends.

Strands of wild boar hair embedded in a strand of barbed wire, with a hand underneath the strand of barbed wire

Wild boar hair. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation

A strand of wild boar hair pinched between thumb and forefinger beside a small tree and the inside of a baseball cap in the background
Strands of wild boar hair embedded in a strand of barbed wire with snow-covered ground in the background

Wild boar hair. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation

Rubs

Wild boar rub on trees, leaving distinctive smooth, bare, or muddy areas. You can often find hair caught in the bark where they have rubbed. You may also see where they have slashed the trees, often spruce, with their tusks.

Mud rubbed against the side of a poplar tree, resulting in a darker section on the trunk

A muddy rub left by a wild boar. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation

Tree trunk that has been stripped of bark with strands of dried sap

A rub that has been used for a long time by wild boar. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation.

Tree with exposed roots - bark is stripped from the foots of the tree to about 30 centimetres up the tree

A spruce tree with signs of tusking and rubbing by wild boar. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation.

Droppings

Because wild boar are omnivores, their droppings can be highly variable and may be confused with bear or deer droppings. This makes droppings are a less reliable sign of wild boar.

Round clumps of fresh wild boar scat in an oblong shape laying on brown and green grass and leaves

Wild boar droppings. Credit; Agriculture and Irrigation

Eight dry, roundish wild boar scat clumped together lying on the ground with green grass

Wild boar droppings. Credit; Agriculture and Irrigation

Round clumps of fresh wild boar scat lying on dried, brown leaves and grass

Wild boar droppings. Credit; Agriculture and Irrigation

Oblong shape of dried bear scat lying on brown, dried grass and leaves with a Sharpie pen beside it for a size comparison

Wild boar droppings. Credit; Agriculture and Irrigation

Clumb of roundish, dark brown wild boar scat on green grass with a large, dry branch above the scat

Wild boar droppings. Credit; Agriculture and Irrigation

Rooting and crop damage

Wild boar root for their food, which can damage habitat, agricultural crops and pasture. Look for signs of “pushing” forward vs the “pawing back” done by deer or bears.

Dug up dirt on a snow-covered ground with smaller tree trunks

Wild boar rooting in peat during winter. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation.

Large, dug up section of grass with fallen trees surrounding the dig

Wild boar rooting. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation

A trail of ripped up grass, exposing the dirt underneath with trees and blue sky in the background
Rough, bare ground that is dug up, surrounded by green grass and small shrubs and branches and

Wild boar rooting. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation.

Crop with stalks that have been broken and tramped down

Crop trampled by wild boar. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation.

Aerial view of a crop with sections that aer flattened due to wild boar activity

Damage to an oat crop caused by wild boar rooting and trampling. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation.

Wallowing

Wild boar wallow to stay cool, as protection for parasites and as part of their social behaviour. They prefer to wallow in hard-bottomed ground. Near wallows, look for mud on nearby fences or trees.

rough section of mud near standing water sitting on mud, with grass to the right of the photo

A wild boar wallow. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation.

Smooth, clear dirt section of ground around rougher dirt with dried leaves, pieces of wood and dried grass left by a wild boar wallowing in mud

A wild boar wallow that has dried out. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation.

impression in the ground that has filled with dirty brown water that has frozen

A wild boar wallow in spring. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation.

Tracks and trails

Tracks are similar to deer, but with rounded toes and dew claws far outside the main track. Consider the track spacing and in snow look for a trench made by the wild boar’s belly dragging in the snow.

cloven hoof imprint in snow beside a leather work glove for size comparison

Wild boar tracks in snow. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation

Cloven hoot imprint in soft dirt with a hand beside it, for size comparison

Wild boar tracks in mud. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation

Cloven hoof imprint in dirt in what would have been mud, then dried

Wild boar tracks in mud. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation

Comparison of a wild boar hoof imprint next to a deer hoof imprint - a red x is superimposed over the track

Comparison of deer and wild boar track, showing the difference in track shape and placement of the dew claws. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation.

Straight path of trodden snow from hoofprints of wild boar in a snow-covered field

Trail made by a sounder (group) of wild boar. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation.

A trail through a crop that curves into a forest, showing the path left by wild boar

Trail made by a sounder (group) of wild boar. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation.

Wild boar nest

Wild boar use nests for farrowing and resting. Look for flattened areas where vegetation has been piled.

Dirt and small, broken branches spread across the ground underneath the boughs of a pine tree, surrounded by snow-covered ground

Wild boar nest. Credit: Alberta Pork.

Wild boar nest - large, spread out pile of broken twigs on snow covered ground near a large, leafless bush

Wild boar nest. Credit: Agriculture and Irrigation.

Report wild boar

Squeal on Pigs to help protect Alberta from wild boar! Report all sightings and signs of wild boar activity.

  1. Safely take a picture.
  2. Note the location.
  3. Fill in our online reporting form:

Report a sighting

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