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| Science & Technology |
| Haifa's wild pig problem might be a thing of the past, thanks to a new US study |
| 2023-10-18 |
| Poss harvest culling to feed the Gazoids? [Jpost] Haifa and its environs have been beset in recent years by large numbers of wild pigs (Sus scrofa) running through neighborhoods, scaring children and the elderly and overturning garbage bins. While some Haifa residents like them and feed them, some have suggested killing them, but this method of doing away with them has not been approved by the Agriculture Ministry or municipality. Haifa is not the only place plagued by wild pigs. It has also occurred in the southeastern part of the US – but officials there have found an answer. The University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources have spent the last two years trying to control the fearsome mammals. The researchers at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina, reduced by 70% the number of pigs and brought about a decline in environmental rooting damage of about 99%. They published their findings in the journal Pest Management Science under the title “Changes in wild pig (Sus scrofa) relative abundance, crop damage, and environmental impacts in response to control efforts.” PIGS IMPORTED AND EXPORTED GLOBALLY Native to Eurasia, the pigs were introduced worldwide for food and hunting opportunities, and over the last several decades have become one of the world's most troublesome invasive species. Pigs were introduced to the US centuries ago as a food source and quickly established wild populations. Feral domestic pigs bred with purebred Eurasian boar that were introduced for hunting, and hybridized wild pigs spread across the landscape due to prolific reproductive rates and a willingness to eat just about anything. Wild pigs are omnivorous, have high reproductive rates and are rarely eaten by other wild animals, even when young. Populations exploded in the late 1980s and early 1990s, causing a substantial increase in damages to agricultural producers. In response, many large-scale control programs were put in place to reduce populations across the landscape, usually through lethal methods. IS HUNTING THE SOLUTION? Due to the substantive damage caused by wild pigs, efforts are often made to control populations, and in many US states, recreational hunting is popular and assumed to help control populations, but there is little evidence supporting the effectiveness of recreational hunting as a long-term management tool for controlling the spread of wild pigs, they wrote. Iin many cases, sport hunting may be counterproductive to population control objectives – it typically removes about a quarter of a population, which is, on average, far below thresholds believed to be needed to reduce their numbers. The study will help conservation groups understand and plan for managing a problem with both environmental and economic costs, as wild pigs were responsible for over $1.5 billion in property and crop damage in just one year, they said. “Through their destructive foraging habits, wild pigs cause extensive damages to crops across the country,” said wildlife ecology and management Prof. Jim Beasley. “Wild pigs also carry several diseases that can be transferred to livestock, adding to their substantial agricultural impact.” When pigs forage, they upturn roots and soil with their snouts, damaging natural habitats and other animals. As natural omnivores, pigs also eat amphibians and other small creatures, potentially impacting their populations over time. In this study, Beasley and his team investigated whether such programs succeeded and, if so, whether environmental damages were reduced as well. They worked with 19 mixed-forest agricultural properties in South Carolina, surveying the pig populations and agricultural and environmental damages, following the implementation of a professional control program over a three-year period. “Before the trappers went in and began management efforts, we placed remote cameras baited with corn around the properties to assess the initial population of wild pigs. Every six months, we would go back out and reassess the populations to see how effective the management methods were,” Beasley said. “Most studies estimate that you need to remove 40% to 60% of a wild- pig population each year to maintain or significantly reduce a population, and they exceeded that threshold,” Beasley said. “With sustained management the population should continue to shrink over the next several years. However, what is unknown is how quickly the population will recover if management efforts cease.” While trapping was the main method of wild-pig removal, ground- and night-shooting events also took place where applicable. Aerial gunning by helicopter was also used on one property that had large enough open areas. Beasley attributes the population explosion to several factors, including humans illegally moving wild pigs to the areas where hunting them is legal year-round, as well as to warmer climates in recent decades. “It’s really a combination of both human-driven factors and natural expansions of populations,” Beasley said. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #11 The wild pigs became bold during the Covid shutdown, as I recall. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2023-10-18 23:00 |
| #10 ^Don't know about Druze but our Bedouin trackers (on Syrian border patrol) would shoot wild pigs on every opportunity - it was "fire on suspicious movement) zone at the time. And were very good at cleaning and cooking them. |
| Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2023-10-18 15:26 |
| #9 Back when the swine flu was making the rounds, one of the 'hot' areas was northern Israel/ suthern Lebanon. Turns out the Druze have nothing against raising pigs. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2023-10-18 15:10 |
| #8 I see that there's a nice tall fence all around Gaza. where there's no fence is open to the sea. Some minor repairs needed on the fence. Perfect for containing the pigs within Gaza. Gaza is otherwise not much good for anything else. |
| Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance 2023-10-18 13:59 |
| #7 Sows become fertile at six months and have two litters per year. Litters are 6-8 piglets. Ranchers prefer to kill sows as part of the pest control effort. |
| Posted by: EMSArtifact 2023-10-18 09:14 |
| #6 The tasty ones. |
| Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2023-10-18 08:04 |
| #5 Which animals are we talking about Grom? the four legged or the two legged varieties? |
| Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance 2023-10-18 08:03 |
| #4 ^Cruelty to animals. |
| Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2023-10-18 07:31 |
| #3 How about catching the wild pigs and then releasing them in Gaza? Turn all of Gaza into a pig farm! |
| Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance 2023-10-18 06:43 |
| #2 Here in GA and the South, we have Hogzilla's. ☺ Kills, weighing in at 800lbs, to over 1,100 lbs that have been officially documented a number of times. This one was killed (800+/- lbs) in the outer suburbs of Atlanta. Recommended Wild Boar hunting weapons are a Semi-Auto large cal rifle with 180+ grain rds, or semi-auto 12Ga. loaded with slugs. Plus a large cal pistol when you get treed.☺ |
| Posted by: NN2N1 2023-10-18 06:36 |
| #1 Wild pig tastes a lot better than domesticated pork. |
| Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2023-10-18 05:05 |
