The Lone Star State is well known for many reasons: The Alamo, longhorn cattle, Longhorn football, football in general, cowboys, and much more. The state is documented in countless country music tales, and its vast space is documented in sayings such as “everything’s bigger in Texas.” Unfortunately for wildlife and farmers in Texas, the state is also becoming notorious because even the state’s population of invasive feral hogs is larger than others. Will Leschper talks about the detrimental impact feral hogs are having in Texas, and what their population will look like five years down the road.
“A Texas A&M University report compiled by scientists and biologists doesn’t attempt to pinpoint the exact number of hogs in the state, but rather highlight suitable habitat and attributes related to the growing population for historical estimation purposes.
The findings are startling, predicting a massive rise in the population without proper control in a state featuring more places for the swine to call home than most people may realize. The bottom line is this, according to the study: If left unchecked, the state’s feral hog tally — which was averaged at roughly 2.6 million animals — will more than triple in five years.”
Photo by: Thomas Cornelissen
