New Times San Luis Obispo. (2023, February 02). Cover: A rush to curb wild pig prevealence in California leaves conflicting groups speculating about the animal’s future. Retrieved September 03, 2023, from https://www.newtimesslo.com/special-issues/a-rush-to-curb-wild-pig-prevealence-in-california-leaves-conflicting-groups-speculating-about-the-animals-future-13437638
An estimated 400,000 invasive wild Eurasian boar-domestic pig hybrids are roaming throughout California. They create a lot of damage to both nature and farms as they reproduce very quickly, eat and destroy crops like grapes, and ignore the contours of landscapes other animals like deer follow. However, it is hard to get rid of them due to laws that make hunters pay $25 per pig. Trophy hunters do not care for these pigs, and many easy hunting methods like night hunting and trapping are illegal. However, Senate Bill 856 has been passed, loosening pig hunting regulations and allowing people to hunt unlimited pigs for $25 a year instead of per pig. The bill will go fully into effect in 2024, despite opposition from some.
This article is related to environmental science because it talks about people dealing with a rapid increase in California’s wild pigs, an invasive species with a large and harmful ecological impact on our environment. Specifically, it mentions how destructive the pigs are in California, and solutions people are creating. However, there is no solution that can instantly kill off all wild pigs. This is due to many people wanting to utilize them, the government charging money to kill the non-valuable animals, and other hunting restrictions. These conflicts described in the article are why I think this article relates to environmental science. My personal reaction to this article, is mostly surprise and curiosity. I already was aware that near Coyote Park (south of San Jose) there was a wild pig population, however, I did not know that wild pigs were a statewide issue, and that these pigs are not normal wild boars, instead a mixed breed between Eurasian boars and domestic pigs. I also was unaware of the damage they cause, as I just saw them as interesting local animals. I only wonder why we do not do the same things we do in Texas to try to quickly kill off as many pigs as possible with non-lead bullets, and allow native species to thrive while using their dead bodies for uses like animal food.
Daniel- I have read thousands of these posts and never did I realize it was possible to post a picture too. You are a pioneer pushing the cutting edge of Edublogs! Excellent abstract and I enjoyed your take on it in the follow up paragraph. I was once camping and we heard a gang of these pigs coming right towards are tent. They have huge tusks. It was kind of terrifying because we couldn’t see them because it was so dark, but they sounded so close.
So what do you think? Should they open up an all season free hunt on this critter to get the population under control… or even eradicate it? They do cause so much destruction… of course it’s not the hogs fault it’s here. But it is certainly a disruption to the ecosystem.
Wow, I have never seen them in person but my friend who used to live in Gilroy was biking near Coyote Park and got chased by some, thankfully he got away. Hopefully, I can see them one day and have a safe encounter.
I think they should eradicate the majority of the feral pig population ethically by having hunters get to kill unlimited pigs for only 25 dollars a year. Since so many pigs in the farming industry have worse lives than feral pigs and die in more unethical ways, I think it would not be so bad for pigs who get to live life in the wild and die with one shot to get killed for animal food. If we let most survive they will reproduce too quickly and destroy our sensitive ecosystems, so unfortunately, we would need to kill the majority of pigs and let only some stay, possibly in pasteurized areas like with cows on the highways. It is upsettingly the only affordable solution we have that can save our native species. If money was not an issue, trapping them and sending them to parts of Asia and Europe where wild boars came from would be a lot better.