What is Known, Unknown, and Needed to be Known about Damage Caused by Wild Pigs

Authors

Kurt C. VerCauteren, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, ColoradoFollow
Kim M. Pepin, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, ColoradoFollow
Seth M. Cook, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, Colorado
Sophie McKee, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, Colorado
Abigail Pagels, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, Colorado
Keely J. Kohen, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, Colorado
Ingrid A. Messner, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, Colorado
Michael P. Glow, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, Colorado
Nathan P. Snow, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, ColoradoFollow

ORCID IDs

VerCauteren http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4783-493X

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2024

Citation

Biological Invasions (2024) 26: 1,1313-1,325

doi: 10.1007/s10530-024-03263-z

Comments

United States government work

Abstract

Damage assessments provide evidence for initiating and evaluating management programs that protect natural resources and human livelihoods against invasive species. Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) cause extensive damage in their native and non-native ranges, but the extent of current damage and efficacy of management of the damage (i.e., population control of wild pigs, exclusion fencing, etc.) remains poorly described. We conducted a systematic review of physical damage caused by wild pigs to summarize what is known and identify knowledge gaps for damage assessment. Wild pig damage assessments have been overwhelmingly qualitative (84% of studies) and measured differently across studies, which prevents the determination of typical damage amounts to a particular resource and comparison across studies. Key priorities going forward are to standardize damage assessments quantitatively and measure population density (or index of such) of wild pigs concurrently with damage assessments to determine the relationship between damage and population levels. We provide a framework for inferring damage in new areas and assessing the benefits of management—to evaluate and optimize landscape-scale management programs. Overall, we recommend future studies strive for: (1) report the amount of damages in a standardized fashion (e.g., area damaged/area surveyed), (2) evaluate and report the amount of damage relative to the density of wild pigs, and (3) when reporting economic costs of damages incurred and management actions, describe the economic valuation method used along with the year of reference for the valuation. Capturing these elements are necessary steps to predict the benefits of management for an area with particular profile of resources and wild pig density, even in areas where damage assessments are not available. Meeting these criteria with allow for more generalizable results that can inform managers across the nearly global distribution of wild pigs.