Efforts successfully control wild pig invasion

The invasion of wild pigs in the southeastern U.S. can seem like an insurmountable problem, but researchers have found that some recent conservation efforts have been effective at controlling their populations.

Control efforts around a study site in South Carolina reduced wild pig (Sus scrofa) abundance by 70% in two years, and the environmental damage from their destructive rooting behavior nearly disappeared. The team published their findings in Pest Management Science.

“With sustained management, the population should continue to shrink over the next several years,” said lead author Jim Beasley, a professor and researcher at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. “However, what is unknown is how quickly the population will recover if management efforts cease.”

Annual damages from wild pigs in the U.S. can top $1 billion.

Read more from the University of Georgia.