City officials scramble as feral hogs run rampant, putting local crops at serious risk: 'They want to destroy'

Feral hogs are more than just an annoyance, causing an estimated $2.5 billion in agricultural losses in the United States every year, according to the Department of Agriculture. Farmers in Texas are among those struggling as the invasive creatures run rampant.

What's happening?

In August, KTXS reported that the feral hog population in Abilene is expanding rapidly, as the creatures have high reproduction rates.

"From October of 2022 to July of 2023 our [efforts] here, using the county traps, have trapped over 1,075 pigs," Taylor County Extension agent Steve Estes told the ABC affiliate. "Feral hogs reproduce at such a high rate that you almost would have to take out 70% of the population annually, just to keep the population numbers in check and keep them from growing."

One farmer, Tim Shields, explained to the station that he has changed his crop rotation to prevent the hogs from wreaking havoc on his livelihood, though his options are growing thin since the creatures learned to destroy the new crops after several years of peace.

"They get a spot and they just knock it all down," Shields said. "They knock down way more than they eat. It's just like they want to destroy things."

Why is this important?

The USDA notes that failure to curb hog populations could result in a "feral swine bomb." In addition to the aforementioned economic losses, which can contribute to higher prices at the grocery store, feral hogs can carry and transmit dozens of diseases and parasites to pets and wildlife, disrupting the protective balance of our ecosystems.

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Native to southwest Asia and brought to North America by explorers and settlers, the hogs also carry pathogens that the USDA says "pose a significant threat to public health."

In the Lone Star State, as the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service points out, the invasive species has proved to be a hazard to vehicles on the road, resulting in fatal collisions. Feral hog attacks have also caused some deaths.

"As both human and feral hog populations continue to expand, conflicts between the two groups will continue to increase," the extension wrote.

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What's being done about feral hogs?

According to KTXS, some counties in Texas are still dealing with the problem on their own, but others have greenlit initiatives that allow wildlife officials to trap hogs on private properties.

On a federal level, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says on its website that it is collaborating with the National Feral Swine Damage Management Program to prevent feral hogs from overrunning U.S. lands.

Part of its goal is to develop more tools and predictive models to better manage growing hog populations as well as educate the public about ways to prevent or limit damages.

Some chefs have even started introducing feral hogs to more American palates, with support from USDA food safety facilities, in an attempt to aid population control efforts.