Australia: Pig shooting is more fashionable

Game hunting is becoming more profitable than general pork production in some parts of Australia's north-eastern territory of Queensland.

Pig shooters are reported to be receiving between AUD0.60 (US$0.50) and AUD1 (US$0.80) per kilo dressed weight for wild boar.

Such earnings mean that hunters can more than cover their costs while traditional pork producers are reported to be making losses between AUD0.20 (US$0.17) and AUD0.30 (US$0.26) per kilo.

Cliff Dee, director of Wild Game Resources, a company based in Hamilton, Queensland, estimated gross national wild pigmeat exports to be at a low level of 2,000 to 2.500 tonnes.

He expects the wild pig population to increase following the spring and summer rains and has warned pig producers that wild pig hunting will correspondingly increase.

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Editor PigProgress