..VALLEY FALLS, N.Y. (AP) � Wildlife officials in New York may ban captive boar hunts as they try to curb a growing feral hog population before it gets as bad as it is in Southern states, where roaming droves have devastated crops and wildlife habitat with their rooting, wallowing and voracious foraging.

Feral swine are breeding in three counties in central New York, according to a federal study done last year with funding from New York's Invasive Species Council. The wild population statewide is likely in the hundreds , said Gordon Batcheller, head of the state Department of Environmental Conservation's Bureau of Wildlife.

That's small compared with Texas, where biologists estimate the feral hog population at around 2 million, but Batcheller said any number is bad because they're certain to multiply. Damage becomes more noticeable when the population reaches the thousands and the hogs stake out home territories rather than wandering widely.

Eurasian wild boars have become popular on private hunting ranches throughout the U.S. in recent years as an addition to deer and elk. Ranch owners deny they're the source of the free-roaming pigs, but Patrick Rusz, director of wildlife programs for the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, said the animals started showing up in the wild soon after hunting preserves began importing them. Their distribution is clustered near preserves, he added.

"We're not talking about Porky Pig getting loose from the farm," Rusz said. "These are Russian wild boars. Those animals are Houdini-like escape artists and they breed readily in the wild. We've had domestic pigs for centuries and never had a feral hog problem until the game ranches started bringing these in."

Wild pigs are intelligent and adaptable, eating almost anything and able to live in a wide range of habitats. They dig up cropland and lawns. They damage ecosystems by rooting and digging for food and devouring roots, stems, leaves, fruit, nuts, bark, bird eggs, mice, snakes and fawns. They compete with native wildlife for food such as acorns, carry diseases that can be transferred to wildlife, and destroy wetlands with their wallowing.

Feral swine multiply rapidly, with sows producing several litters a year of four to six piglets, so as with any invasive species, it's crucial to mount aggressive eradication efforts before the population is widely established, Batcheller said. They're also wily and secretive, and become even more so when people try to shoot or trap them.

New York trapped and removed 44 feral swine in Cortland and Onondaga counties in 2008 and 2009, but that effort ended when the state's budget got tight. Now authorities are working to build public awareness of the problem and encourage people to report sightings, as well as urging hunters with small-game licenses to shoot them, any time of year.

"Stopping escapes is the biggest and most important issue we're challenged with," Batcheller said. "It might require legislation so we can shut down the source of these animals before they get on the landscape."

A number of states have banned the captive wild boar hunts as a first step in controlling the wild population, including Michigan, with a population of boars estimated at 2,000 to 7,000. But ranch operators have lobbied the Michigan legislature to overturn the state's ban. While politicians argue, Rusz says the ban has been postponed and won't be fully in place for perhaps four years.

"That's a travesty," he said. "We need an aggressive, common-sense approach.

"Delays are just working in favor of the hogs."

Other northern states concerned with the spread of feral pigs include Maryland, Ohio, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Oregon and Pennsylvania. The animals are well-established in Southern states.

The boars are seen as a scourge for livestock, too. USDA wildlife biologist Justin Gansowski traps feral swine in New York and tests them for diseases that can be transmitted to domestic livestock. Several have tested positive for pseudorabies, a viral disease that's not fatal to humans but can sicken dogs, cats, goats and cattle.

Another problem comes when preserve operators don't take adequate precautions to keep hogs from escaping, said Dave Vanderzee, owner of Easton View Outfitters, a game-hunting and breeding ranch about 20 miles northwest of Albany in Valley Falls. He keeps his Eurasian wild boars behind an 8-foot-tall wire mesh fence encircling about a quarter-acre, with the bottom of the fence buried to prevent burrowing out.

"As an operator, you don't want to lose your livestock," Vanderzee said. They're too valuable."

While deer are hunted from September through January, when they have nice racks of antlers, boar provide an exciting hunt and tasty meat year round, making them popular with hunters and valuable to preserve operators, he said.

"With the cold winters and deep snowpack in the Northeast, I don't think New York is going to have quite the problem people think it will have with feral hogs," Vanderzee said. "But let's not find out. We should nip it in the bud."

Rusz said no fence is foolproof, and the only sensible solution is to ban captive boar breeding and hunting, just as it's illegal to propagate other exotic invasive species.

In Michigan, the Wildlife Conservancy is training volunteers to operate wild hog traps and working with landowners to ferret out and eliminate pockets of wild hogs.

"Biologists will tell you, once they get established, they're going to come to a neighborhood near you," Rusz said. "The hogs will find you. That's the situation we're in."

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As much as I love hunting and eating them, the reality is that they are monsters that have huge detrimental impacts on ecosystems.

The most common sense way of stopping their spread in virgin areas is to ban any money making in connection to their hunting, and enacting aggresive erradication by trappers when they are found.

You may thin the herd but you cant get rid of them.Trapping is the only way to control them.

Any state that introduces feral species for free range or without reproductive restrictions is a phvcking idiot.

Main problem in Missouri is idiots releasing hogs deliberately in the national forest, to create hunting populations. It's against the law, but it happens.

Sorry, but this is just so wrong.

We neither need nor want, and can't afford, more taxes to pay for the enforcement of any new bans. What we need is proper management of open seasons, and FEWER restrictions on hunting and firearms use and ownership.

You don't want feral hogs on your own hunting lands or state game lands - tremendous destruction and bad for the native species as well.

Bullchit. If you knew ANYTHING about wild pigs, you'd know that their introduction into ecosystems is a huge detriment to native flora and fauna, along with ranching and farming operations. They are little monsters, with no benefit whatsoever, except to the dumbasses who think they can introduce them and make a buck off of hunting them.

And this has NOTHING to do with firearm use and ownership.

That red herring ain't gonna fly here..

NY & PA are both having a bunch of problems with invasive species on land and in the water. Back in the early 80's, it was someone's bright idea to plant multi-flora rose on PA state game lands. In NY, the lakes are under tremendous pressure from invasive mussels, clams, seaweed, gobis, algae, etc, etc....
One of NY's dark little secrets is that there are something like 400 whitetails farms. Guess how CWD is transported?
Pigs are another piece of bad news, for a long list of reasons.
We seem to be working hard to screw up pretty good hunting and fishing resources.

"Biologists will tell you, once they get established, they're going to come to a neighborhood near you," Rusz said. "The hogs will find you. That's the situation we're in."

Yep, the Rosie O'Donalds will be with us forever.

I'm ready to do my part!!

Then kill every one you see any time you see one. That is about all you can do.

Anyone who says they want feral hogs where they are not yet is either:
1 a fricking idiot
or
2 don't know anyting about hogs and what they do.

In reference to hogs, I heard a biologist once said there are two kinds of states. Those that have hogs.....and those that dont have hogs.....YET!

I'm about 20 minutes from where the hogs have been located in CNY. I hear that some have even been hit by cars. Local farmer works with the count and state composting the hogs

The DEC, local property and farm owners won't do much to help hunters. My self and a bunch of my friends have called the DEC many times and they just tell use the rules and regulations on how we can hunt them. We know that. If they would let hunters know where they are and the property and farm owners would let us hunt on their land it be a big help.

All they do is go on the news and in the newspapers and tell everyone how much damage they do. Then they won't give hunters any information or let us hunt them on their land. It's frustrating for everyone involved. My son (10) and I have been hunting them this summer. We're getting close but still haven't got one yet. We'll keep trying. We're getting our new setup dialed in, a Remington 7600 Carbine 30-06 Spr.!

NYH1!

I sympathize, but fair chase hunting will never control wild pig populations.

For any hope of control or elimination, they need to be aggressively trapped and eradicated using proven means.

I'm thinking it will be really interesting to see the reactions of the tree-huggers in Ithaca when the hogs come to town. The "Save The Earth" mentality might go out the window when their pristine lawns start getting rooted-up.

FC

And the golf courses at the country clubs.

I have a friend that has several thousand acres of farm and pasture lands that he uses a helicopter to shoot as many as he can. You cannot trap or hunt enough to control them. The farmers he does the control work for are desperate and the helicopter is the only thing yet that can yield the number of kills in a day. They have taken over 300 in a weekend without a dent to the population. I don't think people understand how many hogs are out there.

What state is this in??

We people in Hunt County Texas understand all to well.

Yepper, I live in the city, and just this very evening I was stepping warily along a local brushy sream channel running between neighborhoods. Stepping warily on account of the abundant large hog sign and fresh droppings.

Feral pigs can survive in Alaska (some areas).

You poor bastids......

I shot my biggest free range wild boar in Alberta at the most northern edge of the province, it was -6 deg and everything was covered in 2 feet of snow. The landowner that gave me permission said they are able to live thru the winters with no problems at all. The only thing they noticed was some have the edges of the ears frost bitten.

They will never be eliminated from this wild area. They may not live in huge numbers, but they are a resilient species that seems to survive in humid tropical jungles and near the arctic circle. Remember too that they live without issue in northern Russia, it's kinda cold there too I hear!

Texas

They reproduce so blooming fast with high litter numbers possible. A young gilt will breed before her first birthday. In cold weather they will pull grass and such to make some pretty impressive beds to stay warm. If they did better in extreme heat they would be invincible.

The wild hogs in South America, Australia, and Africa, not to mention the south pacific islands live in huge numbers in hideous heat, actually most of south Texas has a hog explosion and it's a very hot area.

I shot a massive free range wild boar at -6 F with two feet of snow on the ground ( not in the USA). Russia is quite famous for the wild boars they have and it's darn cold and snowy there in winter! I'm not sure there is an animal on earth that can survive a wider range of habitats and conditions!

What I was referring to in regards to heat is that hogs vulnerability is they cannot be pushed hard in the heat. They have a hard time with regulating body temperature and will not survive if they cannot get cooled down if pressured hard.

These pigs couldn't be controlled by hunting, but they are at least a little more manageable.

They'll eat anything. Grass,oats,rye,fruit of any kind,acorns,squirrels,rabbits,mice,snakes...anything! They can survive just about anywhere and you can bet they'll double in population every year.If you haven't killed at least as many as you have seen this year then they're already out of control. Some people say well I've never seen one around here. Well just wait, they're coming! powdr

So far we don't have them in Idaho. However, there are some shooting ranches that offer them. It only takes 1 torn down fence to get a plague going. I think canned hunts for pigs should be outlawed entirely because of the potential for escape.