Controlling Pest Pigs

Wild or feral pigs have thrived due to a lack of natural predators in North America and most of Europe, adapting to an incredibly diverse variety of climes and eco-systems, from dripping rainforests to arid deserts and nearly everywhere in between.

Diet

They paw, root, chomp and snort their way through an omnivorous diet ranging from insects to young deer and lambs, roots and tubers.

Disease Carriers

Wild pigs in 11 states have been found to be carriers of a virus called psuedorabies. Not related to the well-known rabies virus, psuedorabies is a herpes virus which has been eradicated in the domestic swine population in the U.S., is fatal to cattle, sheep, goats, dogs and cats but does not effect humans.

Control and Precautions

In areas of wild pig infestations, food crops and domestic swine should be fenced. Hunting, whether from the ground with dogs or by air, is very effective in reducing pest populations although care should be taken that dogs do not contract pseudorabies from close contact with the pig's nasal and oral secretions. Live traps can be used to hold animals for relocation or slaughter,however as they may be carriers of pseudorabies, wild pigs should not be slaughtered on farms where domestic swine are raised nor should their offal be fed to domestic pigs.