Pig hunting in New Zealand has a long history, and is one borne out of necessity rather than sport. Pig hunts started a while after their introduction in the country, which was as early as 1769 by the French explorer Jean Francois Marie de Suville. A year later, Captain James Cook brought pigs with him, gifting some animals to local Maori that were then bred. These pigs occasionally escaped to form the wild pig populations that we have today. As a result, feral pigs in New Zealand are often referred to as ‘Captain Cookers’. These pigs are derived from English breeds such as the Berkshire, Tamworth and other large black breeds.
However, while many Captain Cookers are black, grey, brown, ginger, white or a combination of these colors is also common. These wild pigs also look quite different than most domestic pigs. They have a distinctive shape, with large shoulders, smaller rear quarters, larger snouts and tusks, with a hairier body and a straight tail.
Another common breed introduced into New Zealand is the Kunekune pig, which translated from Maori means ‘fat and round’. Although the origin of this unique breed is not certain, the pig is likely to have been traded between sailors and Maori. Similar breeds can be found in Asia, Polynesian Islands and South America. Cross breeding among these breeds and among others make up the common wild pig found throughout New Zealand.
Pigs quickly adapted to New Zealand conditions. Like many introduced species, with plenty of food and no predators, New Zealand populations quickly grew and mobs spread across the country. This resulted in widespread devastation to farmlands, and the killing of lambs by wild pigs. To counteract this, European settlers found themselves having to hunt the pigs destroying crops and lambs.
In the 1930’s the pig problem was so bad that the government introduced a bounty scheme where one shilling or three rounds of ammunition would be paid for a pig snout and tail in an attempt to reduce numbers. It was recorded that in 1947 there were an estimated 123 pigs per square kilometer of bush. On most occasions trained dogs were used to sniff out and bail the pigs the hunter would then either shoot it with a .303 or sticking the pig through the neck with a long blade knife.
Today, wild pigs are tolerated, but their numbers are controlled as much as possible, as wild pigs still have the ability to uproot pasture and cause problems with lambing.
