February 02, 2022
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Newly proposed law seeks to ease California’s feral pig problem - PennLive

Feral pigs have long been an invasive species after their ancestors were first introduced to North America in the 1500s.
Feral pigs have long been an invasive species after their ancestors were first introduced to North America in the 1500s. (photo by Donald Teel via Unsplash)

This issue sure is an oinker.

Newly proposed legislation is looking to help California ease its feral pig problem.

Outdoor Life reports how the measure—introduced by Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa)—believes the best way to control the state’s out-of-control pig population is by making it easier for both hunters and landowners to hunt them.

“Unfortunately, swelling numbers of wild pigs have become a scourge on California wildlands, endangering sensitive habitats, farms and other animals,” explains Dodd in a press release. “They also present a major public health risk and have been linked to outbreaks of food-borne illness.

“My bill will increase opportunities to hunt them and to do so more economically so that we may bring our pig population under control.”

Indeed, the issues Dodd is referring to remain widespread and not a little serious: According to the New York Times, feral pigs are “rampaging” throughout even the suburbs of California, “tearing up lawns, ripping through golf course fairways, threatening the drinking water and disturbing the harvests at Napa vineyards.”

Apart from the destruction, the Times continues to explain that these pigs—recognized as an invasive species in other states such as Louisiana—may carry harmful diseases such as E. coli, giardia and salmonella.”

But how did these wild hogs even get here, anyhow? Well, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspective Service explains that these pigs—originally domesticated—were brought over to the region in the 1500s by early settlers. Over time, pigs that escaped became, well, not domesticated, hence the current problem.

“Feral pigs are an invasive species and the cause of significant damage in our state to the environment, private property, agriculture and other wildlife,” says Eric Sklar, member of the California Fish and Game Commission. “We need to do everything we can do to stop them and I applaud Sen. Dodd’s effort to address this problem.”



source: https://www.pennlive.com/life/2022/02/newly-proposed-law-seeks-to-ease-californias-feral-pig-problem.html

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