More than 500 wild hogs removed from Smokies
Posted 6/20/2009 4:20 PM ET
GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) — Wildlife managers at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have removed more than 500 wild hogs this year -- the most removed since 1987.
Since the late 1950s, the park has removed almost 12,000 wild hogs. The animals are a target for control because they're nonnative and do considerable damage to the ecosystem by eating rare plants and salamander, defecating in streams and churning up the ground.
In a typical year, park hog hunters trap and shoot about 275 hogs from the park, most of them from the North Carolina side. Biologists attribute the recent increase to several years of bountiful mast crops, especially acorns.
None of the wild pigs is trapped and relocated outside the park because of concerns over the animals transmitting diseases like pseudorabies and swine brucellosis.
The park's hog population traces back to the early 1920s, when a herd of European wild hogs escaped from a game reserve in Graham County, N.C. By the 1940s, the wild hogs had spread into other counties as well as the Smokies. Kim DeLozier, chief wildlife biologist for the Smokies, said he believes the pig population has also been bolstered by domestic pigs that have escaped or been released into the wild.
"Our pigs may be increasing because of people illegally releasing feral pigs around the park boundary," DeLozier said. "We know that, because our pigs have taken on a different appearance than the pure European species." The wild hogs have lean hips, large tusks, straight tails and split guard hairs.
"These are marathon pigs," DeLozier said. "They're lean and mean, not fat and sassy." The feral pigs often have spots and curly tails. DeLozier said feral pigs tend to travel in larger groups than the traditional European strain and are easier to trap and control.
As the park's original wild hogs breed with feral pigs, the outcome will be animals that are somewhat closer to feral pigs in appearance and behavior, DeLozier said.
"The traditional pigs we've dealt with for the past 25 years tend to be more solitary and much tougher to bait," he said. "Normally, they don't run in big groups. In the past several years, we're seeing two or three sows together with large groups of piglets."
Posted 6/20/2009 4:20 PM ET
GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) — Wildlife managers at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have removed more than 500 wild hogs this year -- the most removed since 1987.
Since the late 1950s, the park has removed almost 12,000 wild hogs. The animals are a target for control because they're nonnative and do considerable damage to the ecosystem by eating rare plants and salamander, defecating in streams and churning up the ground.
In a typical year, park hog hunters trap and shoot about 275 hogs from the park, most of them from the North Carolina side. Biologists attribute the recent increase to several years of bountiful mast crops, especially acorns.
None of the wild pigs is trapped and relocated outside the park because of concerns over the animals transmitting diseases like pseudorabies and swine brucellosis.
The park's hog population traces back to the early 1920s, when a herd of European wild hogs escaped from a game reserve in Graham County, N.C. By the 1940s, the wild hogs had spread into other counties as well as the Smokies. Kim DeLozier, chief wildlife biologist for the Smokies, said he believes the pig population has also been bolstered by domestic pigs that have escaped or been released into the wild.
"Our pigs may be increasing because of people illegally releasing feral pigs around the park boundary," DeLozier said. "We know that, because our pigs have taken on a different appearance than the pure European species." The wild hogs have lean hips, large tusks, straight tails and split guard hairs.
"These are marathon pigs," DeLozier said. "They're lean and mean, not fat and sassy." The feral pigs often have spots and curly tails. DeLozier said feral pigs tend to travel in larger groups than the traditional European strain and are easier to trap and control.
As the park's original wild hogs breed with feral pigs, the outcome will be animals that are somewhat closer to feral pigs in appearance and behavior, DeLozier said.
"The traditional pigs we've dealt with for the past 25 years tend to be more solitary and much tougher to bait," he said. "Normally, they don't run in big groups. In the past several years, we're seeing two or three sows together with large groups of piglets."
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