There are an estimated 23 million feral pigs spreading across the country, wreaking havoc on the environment and posing a huge threat when it comes to transmitting a dangerous disease to other species.

It's become a pressing concern as African swine fever looms alarmingly close to our northern doorstep in Indonesia, Timor Leste and China.

It's wiped out more than a quarter of the world's pig population this year.

Those in charge of preparing for an outbreak include Trevor Drew, the director of the Australian Animal Health Laboratory, who said wild pigs are the nation's biggest vulnerability.

The junior rangers have helped construct pig traps as part of the Learning on Country Program and a CSIRO project. ( Supplied: Bawinanga Rangers )

Mass destruction and damage to sacred sites

"There are a very large number, nobody knows exactly how many there are, but if they were to become infected, and it is almost certain they would, the disease would spread very rapidly and they may act as an ongoing reservoir of the disease which would make it very hard to contain," he said.

Wild pig populations are particularly prominent in Northern Australia, where they have caused mass destruction to the environment and sacred sights and decimated local food sources.

One of the Bawinanga Rangers shows a track left behind by a wild pig in the remote community of Maningrida in Arnhem Land. ( Supplied: Bawinanga Rangers )

In the coastal community of Maningrida in Arnhem Land, local elders said numbers are out of control.

"There are too many pigs — pigs are everywhere, running around in swamp[s] eating chestnuts, some in [the] jungle eat the yams, they make a mess everywhere," Elder Pat Gamanangga said.

They've tried all kinds of ways to trap the animals but it wasn't until the local Bawinanga Rangers looked closer to home that they struck gold: discovering native foods were an irresistible lure.

"We show them what pigs used to eat, which one [their] favourite one. Pigs' favourite food," said junior ranger Elvina Campion.

It's critical timing and the CSIRO have teamed up with the Bawinanga Rangers in a ground-breaking project.

"We're learning how to set up traps and cameras and put pig baits out," said Ms Campion.

Bawinanga Rangers have been using satellite technology to track the pig litters once they've been fitted with a collar. ( Supplied: Bawinanga Rangers )

Rangers' data could prove critical to managing an outbreak

They also fit them with devices that trace their movements.

"We put a collar around the neck, not on the small pigs but the bigger ones, then release them back," said senior ranger Felina Campion.

Project coordinator Alex Ernst said it meant they could track down large litters when trying to cull numbers, saving time and money.

"With the collars with the rangers they can track directly to a mob of pigs," he said.

It's data that also could prove critical when it comes to managing a disease outbreak.

By understanding where pigs are and how many are in certain areas, containment could be made much easier.

CSIRO group leader David Williams has been trying to find a vaccine that would be a critical tool in controlling the spread, but he said it's not a silver bullet and would probably be years away.

"If the virus were to get into that population, that would be quite devastating and problematic: it would become a very difficult proposition to control the disease spread once it's in that wild population."

He said traditional measures of disease control included a containment strategy, which would mean knowing information the rangers could provide about animal movement and numbers — which would also help carry out a mass cull.