Hog Wild

Chris Bauer Video on Jul 14, 2009 by from
Topics: Biology, Environment, Television

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In 1924 a hunter purposely released a handful of wild boar in Monterey County. Now the pigs number in the hundreds of thousands and reside in all but two of California's 58 counties. Big, fast, smart and hungry, these animals often out-compete native species and damage fragile native ecosystems. Now hunters are stepping up to be part of the solution.

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  • jane frommer

    Thank you for treating this topic with rational thought, countering lawn-owners' hysteria. If the pigs are here to stay, as mentioned in the video, then green lawns are self-defeating landscaping.
    However, has the approach of baiting the pigs with food containing sterilizing agents been pursued? Stem the tide by going to the source of their reproduction mechanism.

    I look forward to receiving the Educator Guide

  • http://www.hog-blog.com Phillip

    Jane,

    For what it's worth, I can tell you that work is in progress on sterilization/contraception options, but currently there are no viable products. Even when a product is available, the complexity of making sure it's administered in proper doses to the right animals will be a big challenge.

    It's also worth noting that administering oral contraception to problem animals, such as deer, has been pretty ineffective except in geographically isolated locations (such as small islands). Hogs are many times more fecund than deer, capable of having three litters in just over a year. It would take a highly effective delivery mechanism with a highly potent medication to provide significant population control.

    Stay tuned, I suppose, as I'm betting you haven't heard the last of feral hogs or the efforts to control them.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Luke-Young/100001487778812 Luke Young

    Wow this is very interesting. I didn't know feral pigs existed up in the bay! I'll be sure to stay out of their way… Unless I'm a hunter, but then again I saw a video of a hunter trying to shoot one of those things and he missed and almost died. So I'll probably just stay at home and read about them instead… While enjoying my Ham sandwich of course! :)

    OO here is the video

    http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/82398509/?utm_source=EBW&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=Hunters-Close-Call-With-Boar