The Texas state legislature has appropriated $500,000 to study the feral hog issue in Texas.
The legislature recognized the destructive impact that feral hogs can have on pastures, croplands and private property and the disease risk they pose to other livestock. A Texas Extension Service survey in 2004 indicated that the average respondent estimated losses of $4184 associated with damage caused by feral hogs. The problem is estimated to cost the state $51.7 million.
Texas A&M will receive $390,500 and Texas Tech $109,500 to research ways to address the issue in Texas which claims to be home to 2 million feral hogs. Texas Aggie researchers will assess feral hog damage to crops, evaluate control efforts and measure economic impact. Texas Cooperative Extension’s Wildlife and Fisheries Unit and Wildlife Services are to administer a pilot program involving trapping technologies in three different ecological regions — East Texas, Central Texas and the Coastal Bend region. Creating a pheromone and odor bait that would attract feral hogs to the traps and developing a birth control program for wild hogs is Texas Tech’s research mission.
The Texas Cooperative Extension Service compiled a thorough review of the significance of the feral hog problem in Texas entitled Feral Hogs in Texas in 2004.
Source: The Lufkin Daily News