Rafael Herrera

Mr. Skipper

Encounters 8

Jan 19, 2023

Wild Boar: Widespread and Destructive

Introduction

Endangered species are a very serious topic that is talked about and that should be fixed, but an equally important topic that should be addressed are invasive species. An invasive species can be as small as a mosquito, as big as a pig, or as long as a snake. But not all of the invasive species are animals. There are various types of invasive plants that lurk around the United States, that, like the animals, are wreaking havoc wherever they are. There are a lot of invasive species in the world, and they cause great damage to the ecosystem and economy of an area, but one species, in particular, is arguably the most destructive out of them all, the wild boar. The wild boar is the most destructive invasive species in the United States, affecting the ecosystem by tearing up crops and spreading diseases, and affecting the economy by causing more than a billion dollars in damage to the government every year.

Taxonomy and Description

The wild boar, known by its scientific name “Sus scrofa” (Kinsey), is a pig-like invasive animal, generally medium-sized, and not very good-looking. It shares many similarities with domesticated farm pigs but is quite smaller than them, although it can still grow to a big size.

It is thought to be derived from normal domestic pigs that were either released or have escaped from farms (Gallagher). They have a “powerful body-shape, they snort very loudly, and they often have sharp tusks” (“Wild Boar”). They can also be identified by their “thinner bodies, thicker hides, longer tusks, and coarse, bristly hair”, says Gallagher. The wild boar has other names like wild hog, razorback, and feral pig. Most of the time, the wild boar is smaller than farm pigs. According to Gallagher, “adults will average anywhere from 75 to 250 pounds in weight”. The wild boar is similar in shape to a domestic pig but has a longer, more narrow snout, with small eyes and long ears. Some also have a hump on their shoulder. They have “a very coarse coat with thick, short hairs,” and are usually brown. On some rare occasions, they “can appear rusty-red or black.” Both male and female wild boars have long, sharp, and tough tusks, but are “almost always longer in males” (“Wild Boar”).

Introduction To Non-Native Habitat

Pigs, whether they are domestic or wild, are not native to the United States. The pig originally came from Europe and was introduced to the New World by Christopher Columbus during the early era of colonization. Then, in 1539, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto brought them to what is now known as the United States when he landed in Florida (Kinsey).  These colonizers moved the pigs around with them as a reliable food source whenever they traveled and explored new land. Still, some of them often wandered away and escaped from their groups, becoming wild (“Wild Boar”). This created a new species of pigs, called “wild” pigs, that have now invaded a lot of the southern United States, destroying everything that crosses their path. The Native Americans and Europeans also made something that contributed to the growth of this new species’ population. They used domesticated farm pigs to practice a new method of farming, called “free-ranging farming” (Kinsey). Because of being left unattended for long periods, these pigs would also often escape the land they were contained in for this farming and became wild. In addition to the wild hogs that were already living, and starting to invade, the US, the European settlers brought and released a new species of wild pigs, called the “Eurasian wild boar”, which was used as an “exotic game species for recreational hunting purposes” (Kinsey). Today, there are three different types, or species, of wild pigs that make up the free-range farming population: the American feral pig, the Eurasian wild boar, and a population of a cross-bred hybrid of the original feral pig and the Eurasian wild boar (Kinsey). These species continue to breed among and throughout each other, which has made the feral swine population one of the most rapidly increasing and destructive species of all time.

Adverse Effects

Many animals around the world can and have caused a lot of damage to the land and the economy of a place, but almost none of them can top the wild boar. This animal is one of the most economically and environmentally destructive invasive species in the whole world.

There are a lot of things the wild boar has done to affect the environment and the people around them. “They are invasive and cause millions of dollars in agricultural damage each year, rooting and trampling through a wide variety of crops”, says Brigit. Not only do they go by destroying crops, but “their presence can also alter ecosystems and affect native species” (Gallagher). The wild boar also preys on animals like “rodents, to deer, to endangered loggerhead sea turtles,” and can greatly diminish the population of these animals (Bridgit). According to Gallagher, the swine will “use their snouts to dig into the ground and turn over soil in search of food resources… It has been estimated that a single wild pig can significantly disturb approximately 6.5 ft2 in just one minute.” It is almost like there are steps that the wild boar follows to destroy the land. If the wild boar is hungry, it will go to nearby farmland and root for food. It will eat pretty much any crop or vegetable, and will also eat very valuable crops like “corn, soybeans, wheat, and rice, as well as fruits and vegetables” (Gallagher). If they are uncomfortable with their body temperature, they will “wallow” in mud, contributing to water contamination and the spread of a “mosquito-borne disease”. To top it all off, they will go over to shrubs or small trees and rub themselves to remove any pests, thus destroying these plants (Gallagher). Like the mosquito-borne disease these animals tend to contaminate the environment with, there are various other diseases and bacteria the boar can carry and transmit. There are at least 30 diseases that a wild boar can have, some of them being able to infect and cause damage to humans. But the concern is pointed more toward livestock and cattle “This animal is one very destructive species that has to be contained before it destroys more of the environment.

Not only does the wild boas have a great negative impact on the environment, but it has also cost the US government billions of dollars to repair its damages, also making it one of the world’s top economically destructive species. There are various states where the wild boar has had an effect in, but Texas is one of the most recognizable ones. According to Gallagher

Conclusion: Study, Control, and Eradication

The wild boar is for sure one of the most destructive invasive species in the United States, and there are various methods that are being used to try and eradicate the population of this species, most of which are very interesting. One of the most widely used methods to control this animal is trapping. There are two main types of traps: box traps and corral traps. Box traps are used to take care of single wild boars that are trespassing and destroying farmland, and are very easy to transport. Corral traps are used to trap a more numerous number of animals, but cost a bit more than box traps, and aren’t as easy to transport (Kinsey). Although this method is very common in the US, it has almost no effect on the wild boar population, which has made people resort to other methods. One of the more interesting methods used to diminish the wild boar is “aerial gunning”. Aerial gunning is practiced by shooting wild pigs from a helicopter. This method is very effective when there is a dense wild boar population living in a big open space. It is very easy and quick to eradicate a large number of this species with this method, but it also has some challenges. If the wild boar population decreases, it can be harder for the shooters to kill the wild boar (Kinsey). A less expensive and more used method to kill the wild boar is “ground shooting”. Within this method though, there are various different methods that classify as ground shooting (Kinsey). The first is using tracking dogs. Both a skilled dog and a skilled hunter are needed for this method to be successful. But even with these, this method is not very efficient to use on big groups, but is made more for a single pig (Kinsey). The second method is night shooting. This is used on bigger groups of pigs and is done during the night because the night gives cover to the hunters. It loses its efficiency when there is more vegetation and fewer pigs (Kinsey). The final method is recreational hunting. This method is very practical because anyone of legal shooting age can participate. It isn’t as effective as you would think though. Pigs are hunted as “trophy” animals, but only large males are hunted for this, which leaves females and young pigs left to reproduce and increase the population (Kinsey).

Despite all of this being done to curb the wild boar population, its species is still abundantly reproducing, making this a very destructive animal.

Works Cited

Gallagher, Katherine. “Invasive Species: Wild Boar.” Treehugger, Dotdash Meredith, April 30, 2021, www.treehugger.com/invasive-species-wild-boar-5180784.

Katz, Bridgit. "Feral Pigs Are Invasive, Voracious and Resilient. They're Also Spreading" Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Dec 2019, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/feral-Pigs-are-invasive-voracious-and-resilient-theyre-also-spreading.

Kinsey, John C. “Wild Pigs.” Texas Parks & Wildlife, CWB, 2020, tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/nuisance/feralhogs.

“Wild Boar” Animals Network, animals.net/wild-boar.