Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Massive warthog culling in South Africa.

Got this photo off a facebook site that post miscellaneous pics of hunting. I don't know anything about the photo other than that. If anybody knows why that much culling was necessary I would be interested to know more about it.

that is a bunch of warthogs.......wow!

wow, i would love to have been in on that.

In the Eastern Cape some warthogs got out of a private game reserve some time ago and since they have no natural predators in the area, their numbers have increased to such an extent that they have become a problem, ruining crops in the vicinity.
Speak to most farmers in the surrounds and watch his jaw muscles tighten when you mention the word "warthog"
I think they have been declared pests in certain districts.

There's a couple of dandies in there.

People thinking feral swine are bad on crops...

Seen footage of warthogs digging dens - not fit to endearing them to maschinery.

Not unlike the State of Texas.

IIRC they are not indigenous to the eastern cape so better dead than feral.

man, now that's a pile of pork!


maddog

can we be sure that this photo is not changed in any way?

In the mid-1990s, the son of a friend in South Africa had a contract to cull warthogs off farms a couple of hours from Pretoria. He invited me to shoot with him, but I couldn't change my flight home. On my next trip down there, he said he "worked" for nearly a month and shot more than 500, mostly off cultivated fields at night with a .223 with military ammo.

Bill Quimby.

It is in fact a real problem in the EC with Warthogs, as stated above much of the big game is not natural there and they can get into crops causing a lot of damage. It's not limited to Warthogs, but they are the ones most sought after for the crop damage. Kudu getting into Orchards are also just as bad. Probably nothing worse to a farmer then the bush pig. Fortunately they do not live in as high numbers, or breed as fast as warthogs do.

I think they actually may be just as prolific but are more apt to stand there ground from the threat of a predator. That is likely their demise. Their attitude exceeds their capacity in some cases. Warthogs run just about every time.

Guys, I cant comment whether the photo is legit or not, but the fact is that they are one of the commercial farmers biggest enemies. They raid crops, break fences dig holes and are just destructive. I for one love hunting them and they could very well be my favourite animal.
I very sad to say that the current drought conditions of late , experienced by the Eastern Cape has brought their numbers down again. But after some relieve in the last month, I have no doubt that their numbers will climb, as quickly as it did in the past.

Okay guys, here is another question. IIRC, South Africa is slightly smaller than two states of Texas put together. According to the map, their range is more in the north in the Limpopo region down the coastal area. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warthog


If they obviously do so well in the Eastern Cape region, why don't they traditionally live there? Is there some sort of geographical barrier that kept them from establishing a population in the Eastern Cape?

if that map is supposed to show where wart-hogs are found, it is not worth the paper it is printed on.

Agreed..from my experience..Ive seen plenty in southern Namibia...but not according to the map...

Can you post a more current map?

Roger, it's the drought issues in the EC that made them thin through the area. With agriculture and irrigation the typical drought issues that would be natural are compensated with farming water.

The problems with the lack of water that limited warthogs from expanding into this area, were removed with the additional dams put in for cattle and irrigation for crops. Now the one thing that would eliminate the farmers struggle is the single thing that lets them exist so well.

They can eat anything, and find enough food to live on with relative ease in almost any habitat. However water must be available. No water, no warthogs that simple. Introduce then to a place with water, and they will thrive and grow very quickly. They also are kinda the canary in the coal mine where the general health of plains game is concerned. When you see lots of sickly emaciated warthogs, the Kudu are next, and then it's a slippery slope for the rest of the game.

Water is the key to life in Southern Africa, good water is the foundation of strong populations of game. Namibia is the same, and maybe even more so in much of the habitat. Much of Namibia is without high fences. But when you have one or two good sources of of man made water on 50,000 acres the game does not need to be fenced. It's on a "water tether" to the landowners property. During some parts of the year all game can move freely, but during the rainless droughts those animals are locked into that water with more security then any fence could ever provide!

RAC, i would venture to say that something like 80% of SA now have wart-hogs. my wife bought me a book by a local professor and his wife on wild life in SA, this was for Christmas 2006. the first edition was 2000. if you see were they indicate the presence of wart-hogs are and were i have hunted them and were they are well known to be a pest, then there can be no comparison between the professors map and the real world. the reason? it is simply how their numbers exploded, it made the experts info redundant.

having said that i just received my monthly magazine from the SA Hunters and Game conservation Association, in there there are some serious questions being asked about the noticeable decrease in wart-hog numbers in the past few years. though this is not my experience. i have taken 22 wart-hogs for 2011, however none since June.

Thanks, Jim. Too bad warthogs can't be imported to the U.S. I wish I had that "problem" here but I don't know how much cold they could take anyway.

Funny, we have pigs on my property but I can only get pics at night. I haven't seen a single one in the daytime.