U.S. goes after sly, pesky feral pigs [View all]

[AsahinaKimi]

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO – Using the cover of darkness, feral pigs have learned to outsmart even the most seasoned hunters as they set about on their nightly terrors, rooting up crops and suburban gardens, harassing native wildlife and turning watering holes into pigsties.

The invasive porkers have made themselves at home across more than three-quarters of the U.S. and are responsible for an estimated $1.5 billion in damage each year. Most worrisome is their ability to learn from each encounter with a frustrated human.

Their intelligence, in combination with their ability to mate year-round, is what has enabled wild pigs to evade capture and take over prairies, mountain valleys and rugged deserts from Canada to Mexico.

The wild pig population in the U.S. has ballooned to more than 5 million. In one year alone, federal managers trapped and killed more than 32,000 pigs from 28 states and collected thousands of samples to check for the nearly three dozen diseases feral pigs are capable of carrying and passing on to humans, livestock and other wildlife.

Feral pigs have already taken over Texas and are expanding their numbers in other states, but federal and state land managers think they have a chance to tip the balance in New Mexico. They are willing to bet $1 million in federal funds on a yearlong pilot project aimed at eradicating the pigs and using what they learn here to keep them from gaining a foothold elsewhere.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/04/01/environment/u-s-goes-after-sly-pesky-feral-pigs/#.UVme6jeDo5g