Game Pigs

Synopsis – Australian Industry

Year	Gross value of Prod’n $ ‘000	Exports $ ‘000	Imports $ ‘000
2006-2007	10,771	12,734	na

 

The game pig industry in Australia is based on harvesting the feral pig populations that have become established since European settlement. Game pigs are usually shot in the wild; very small numbers are trapped and slaughtered at abattoirs.

It is estimated that there are now between 13 million and 23 million feral pigs spread across all of the sparsely populated areas of Australia except the arid inland. Populations are most dense in wetlands and seasonally inundated floodplains. Australian game pig production has been considerably reduced in recent years by prolonged drought in the Eastern States of Australia. Feral pigs cause considerable environmental damage in Australia through destroying vegetation, competing with native wildlife for food sources, and wallowing and rooting practices that lead to soil erosion.

There is only a very small domestic demand for game pig meat. The main export markets for game pig meat are in the European Union, particularly Germany, France and the Netherlands. The main competitor to Australia in the European game pig market is the United States. Together, Australia and the United States accounted for 96 per cent of the total volume of European Union game pig imports in the three years to 2007. The average export return for game pig meat is around twice that for farmed pig meat from Australia.

Australian game pig meat cannot be exported to the potentially important markets of Canada, the United States, or the Republic of Korea because these countries require an ante-mortem examination that is not possible with pigs shot in the wild.