Kangaroo Island Eradicates All Feral Pigs After 220 Years

After 220 years of destruction, Kangaroo Island has become the largest inhabited landmass in the world to completely eradicate an established feral pig population.

The South Australian island, six times the size of Singapore, has been officially declared feral pig-free after no sightings for over two years. The last three wild pigs were found and removed in March 2024, and testing showed they had never bred.

French explorer Nicolas Baudin first released pigs on the island in 1803 at a place he called Hog Bay. By 2019, an estimated 10,000 feral pigs roamed wild, causing $1 million in annual damage to farms and trampling native vegetation and wildlife habitats.

Then tragedy struck in the form of massive bushfires during the 2019-2020 summer. The fires devastated much of the island's 4,405 square kilometers, but they also killed most of the feral pigs and burned away their hiding places in the dense bush.

Local farmer Rick Morris saw the opportunity immediately. "This is our one chance to get rid of them," he said at the time, and politicians responded with funding to launch the Kangaroo Island Feral Pig Eradication Program.

Since 2020, teams have removed 878 feral pigs using high-tech methods including thermal imaging helicopters, detector dogs, ground shooting, and strategic baiting. Scientists even tested environmental DNA in creeks and waterways to detect any remaining animals.

The effort included artificial intelligence scanning 1.475 million images from 350 remote cameras placed throughout Flinders Chase National Park. Every technological tool available was deployed to ensure complete success.

The Bright Side

This achievement protects an island already free of foxes, deer, and rabbits. Native wildlife and plants can now recover without the constant threat of rooting pigs destroying habitats and polluting waterways.

Farmers will save millions in future crop damage, and the island's unique ecosystem gets a fresh start. Will Durack from the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board says people from around the world have reached out to celebrate and learn from the success.

The program cost $7.5 million but will pay dividends for generations. South Australia's Primary Industries Minister has now asked her department to create a statewide strategy using lessons learned from Kangaroo Island.

Strict biosecurity measures are now in place, with farmers facing fines up to $125,000 or two years in prison if domestic pigs escape. The small number of pig farms on the island will receive support to keep their animals secure.

Something beautiful emerged from the ashes: proof that even centuries-old environmental damage can be reversed when communities work together with determination and smart technology.