A WAR of words has erupted between city-people and rural Queenslanders after a photograph of a social feral pig hunt went viral online.
Hill MP Shane Knuth posted a photo of himself and Kennedy MP Bob Katter with dead feral pigs at the Currajah Hotel at Innisfail on the weekend and the response was immediate.
While north Queenslanders, who see pig hunting not only as a right of passage but a necessity on the land, praised the event, some southerners voiced their disgust, accusing the hunters of “murder”.
They called the hunters vile, disgusting and horrible and said the pigs should be left alone.
Instead of shooting them, it was suggested that they could all be relocated to a fence in agricultural property, somewhere.
Mr Knuth said 99.9 per cent of the protesters did not live in rural and regional Queensland and queried their stance as animal rights activists.
“They're not friends of the environment and they're backers of the feral pig over the native flora and fauna and agriculture industry,” Mr Knuth said.
“It’s great to see the pig hunting enthusiasts in their own time and own expense eliminating Australia's greatest environmental disasters.
“Back in 2007 there was a recorded 20 million pigs, now we're up to 24 million and they’re becoming unstoppable.
“Years ago I called for a bounty to give the pig hunters incentives to hunt the pigs as they do this in their own time and expense.
“Not only that they contribute many dollars to the local community on vehicles, fuel, outdoor gear and equipment. Local pig hunters need permits to access national park because they're becoming a breeding frenzy and uncontrollable.”
Currajah Hotel owner Julie Doherty was bemused at the attention and said she had received a phone call from a woman in Adelaide who was scathing of the hunt.
It was the third time they have hosted a pig hunt which was an annual event.
This year, there was 15 teams, with a total of 42 entrants, including five females. The youngest person taking part was eight.
Those taking part had between 10am Thursday and weigh in on Saturday to hunt for pigs on land upon which they had permission to enter.
A total of 92 pigs weighing in at 3.7 tonnes were shot, with the biggest boar weighing 107.5kg and the largest sow 75.5kg.
Mr Knuth said he was proud to support the pig hunt as a measure to protect the environment.
“This will save our native birds, cassowaries, hundreds if not thousands of turtles and hundreds of tonnes of crops.
“It must be acknowledged that these pigs can carry the panama TR4 and have the potential to destroy the $600 million banana industry.”
