Yahoo Autos What are Oklahoma and other states doing about all these hogs gone wild?
Rather than going it alone, Oklahoma is working with other states in the fight against wild hogs and the $1.5 billion in annual damage they do nationally to crops and property.
Scientists at Oklahoma State University and other land-grant institutions are collaborating, according to the Southern Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors, which recently highlighted the work as one of its multistate research efforts.
Some 9 million feral hogs have been reported in 35 states, according to OSU Ag Research, citing information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
"They eat crops, dig up trees and devour food that other animals depend on," the state agency said, and they've spread all over the Sooner State the past 40 years.
Why are wild hogs such a problem in Oklahoma and other states?
Why are feral hogs such a problem?
"Hogs can significantly damage native flora and fauna through their rooting behaviors and facilitate the spread of invasive plants, alter soil and water resources and limit regeneration of native plants," OSU Ag Research said. "Habitat degradation by feral hogs can influence the diversity and occurrence of native wildlife communities.
"Feral hogs also carry and transmit diseases that pose significant risks to the health of many wild and domestic animals.
They cause "a staggering amount of damage," said Scott Senseman, associate vice president of OSU Ag Research, which provides fact sheets on wild hogs and other wildlife that can cause damage and disease. “A collaborative, multistate effort is likely the only way to mitigate the problem.”
Here are highlights of the research in several states:
What is Oklahoma State University's goal in feral hog research?
OSU's research focuses on wild hogs on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.
Feral hogs were documented on the refuge 30 years ago, but "despite considerable control efforts and costs, feral hogs have persisted, and the ecosystem impacts have not been assessed," OSU Ag Research said.
OSU, using remote game cameras at 99 sites, aims to estimate the hogs’ "space use patterns" and evaluate their effects on bison and the diversity of other animals on the refuge. Analysis of early results is under way. Sampling will be repeated this year from May through August and shared with natural resources managers and scientists.
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