An extraordinary patch of feral hog damage in Florida before and after initiating hog removal

Authors

Richard M. Engeman, USDA-APHIS-Wildlife ServicesFollow
John Woolard, USDA/APHIS/WS
Henry T. Smith, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Park ServiceFollow
Jean Bourassa, USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services’ National Wildlife Research Center
Bernice U. Constantin, USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Service
Daniel Griffin, Savannas Preserve State Park, 9551 Gumbo Limbo Lane, Jensen Beach, FL

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

October 2007

Comments

Published in Human–Wildlife Conflicts 1(2):271–275, Fall 2007.

Abstract

Feral hogs (Sus scrofa) are a particularly destructive exotic species in the United States (U.S. Department of Agriculture 1999), including Florida, which, along with Hawaii, is one of 2 states cited as having the most severe invasive species problems (U.S. Congress 1993) in the country. First introduced to North America by the European colonists (Conover 2007) hogs were one of the first invasive exotic species to take hold in Florida. They can transmit disease to livestock (Hartin et al. 2007) and humans (Conover and Vail 2007). They impose a variety of negative environmental impacts, including habitat degradation and predation on, and competition with, native species (Choquenot et al. 1996, Taft 1999, Engeman et al. 2003, Engeman et al. 2004b, Adkins and Harveson 2007, Kaller et al. 2007, and Mersinger and Silvy 2007).