This report describes the results of the first aerial survey attempt in the Northwest Territories conducted in November 2020 that looked for wild pigs. The survey was a proactive response to the threat of an expanding range of wild pigs in Alberta and Saskatchewan northwards, and an opportunity to judge the operational realities using a belly-mounted forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera on a helicopter for future monitoring and management responses.
The survey was conducted between November 5 and 6 with a total of ten hours flown. The survey crew consisted of the authors, camera technician Kyle Landry and pilot Brent Robinson who flew in an A-Star B2 helicopter operated by Acasta HeliFlight Inc. In general, weather was good although low cloud and snowfall somewhat constrained the first day of flying.
Flying focused on searching the 60th parallel. Wild pigs and all large wildlife along flightpaths were searched for using the infrared system, and visually using motion-stabilized binoculars from the front seat or rear seat of the helicopter. Overall, no wild pigs were detected visually or by the FLIR camera. Several observations of big game species were recorded and every effort was made to detect and video capture every animal seen.
Future surveys could likely be completed with an appropriate low-speed and altitude capable fixed-wing aircraft. Also, future use of the FLIR camera system could be limited to situations when trying to find a specific animal in a known approximate area; especially when search times and spatial area coverage could be generally limited.