SREL Reprint #3414

Wild Pigs

John J. Mayer1 and James C. Beasley2

1Savannah River National Laboratory, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC,
Savannah River Site, Aiken, SC 29808, USA
2University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, D.B. Warnell School of Forestry
and Natural Resources, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA

Introduction: Nonnative wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are the most abundant and widespread medium- to large-sized invasive vertebrate species presently found in the United States (Mayer and Brisbin 2009). That fact combined with their destructive nature and pervasive disease risk potential makes these invasive animals a priority national concern for aggressive and proactive control in this country. In addition, wild pigs encompass a distinctive combination of issues and problems that are unique among invasive species found in the United States. As such, these animals represent a singularly complicated national challenge for which there is no viable solution at the moment.
Wild pigs have been present in both continental and insular portions of the United States for centuries; however, beginning in the early 1990s, populations began to dramatically increase in both numbers and distribution. This rapid and substantial increase was unexpected given generally stable population sizes for the rest of the twentieth century predating the 1990s and has created a critical management need to control expanding populations. As with the initial presence of these animals in the United States, most of the recent increases in wild pig populations are attributable to an anthropogenic origin, largely illegal translocations of animals (Gipson et al. 1998; Mayer and Brisbin 2009).
Concurrent with the aforementioned increase has been an upsurge in the impacts invasive pigs have on both natural and human environments. Not only has the scale and frequency of these impacts increased, but also the types of observed damage being caused by wild pigs. Such damage has been recently estimated to cost the United States billions of dollars annually (Pimentel 2007).
In spite of the generally accepted invasive categorization of wild pigs, the situation with this species in the United States is complicated by the fact that these animals are also a widely popular game species. Such strongly polarized views (i.e., unwanted destructive pest vs. desirable huntable game resource) are not typical for an invasive species issue. Because of this ongoing debate, even with the negatives greatly outweighing the positives, the circumstances associated with invasive wild pigs represent a complex dilemma that will be difficult to solve on a national scale.

SREL Reprint #3414

Mayer, J. J. and J. C. Beasley. 2018. Wild Pigs. pp. 221-250 In: W. C. Pitt, J. C. Beasley, and G. W. Witmer (Eds.). Ecology and Management of Terrestrial Vertebrate Invasive Species in the United States. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).