Pig lives it up in Botanic Gardens
A BOTANICAL attraction has become a beckoning banquet for a starving pig in the Far North’s dry, hot weather.
A Cairns Regional Council crew was last week forced to erect fencing in culverts to prevent feral pigs from gaining access to the Cairns Botanic Gardens.
A delighted pig was spotted frolicking in the gardens twice within the past two weeks, where it was feared the animal may have run amok destroying rare botanical exhibits.
A council spokesman said as it had been hot and dry, it was not unusual for feral pigs to go in search of areas that were cooler and provided food and water, and the gardens were one such area.
“While the feral pig in question did not cause any significant damage to the gardens, feral pigs are a major pest animal in the Far North and damage the natural environment and pose a major threat to the conservation values of the Wet Tropics World Heritage area,” he said. “They cause significant losses to agricultural enterprises in the region, and harbour and spread diseases affecting native animals, stock and humans.”
Pig sightings are not unusual within the vicinity of Mt Whitfield
National Park, but Lorraine Smith from the Friends of the Botanic Gardens said it was highly unusual for the pest animals to be spotted inside the gardens.
“It would have been quite a shock,” she said. “It was lucky no one was charged by it.
“They can do a lot of damage just by rooting around the plants, and could have damaged our rare gingers.”
The damage the animals have wrought upon the national park has previously been captured on film for a National Geographic documentary.
The council currently has a single feral pig trap at the Red Arrow walking track within the conservation park.