Feral Pig Population Growing at an Alarming Rate
The wild pig population in America is going wild; all across the country the population of feral pigs is growing at an alarming rate, doubling in size in just 20 years. It’s hard to be exact on the number of wild pigs but it was estimated 20 years ago the population was somewhere between 500,000 and 2 million, today that number has grown to 2 to 6 million.
Jack Mayer, an expert on wild pigs says in 1982, feral pigs were found in only 17 states; today the number of states has grown to 44. The pigs are causing a lot of damage in rural areas, from digging up cemeteries, lawns and gardens, to auto accidents and attacking humans. The wild hogs can weigh as much as 500 to 750 pounds and according to Meyer there is not a national program in place to take care of the problem. Without federal laws to limit transporting the pigs the battle could be lost. The feral pigs cause an estimated $800 million in property and crop damage and have caused 27,000 auto accidents.
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