Florida looks to rein in invasive wild hogs By EPN Staff They’re called wild hogs, feral hogs and razorbacks – an invasive species that’s been a huge problem in Florida, all over the Southeast and beyond. But while six states, led by Texas, are now using contraceptive-laden food to help control the wild hog population, Florida is still working to get on that list. For now, the state is relying solely on hunting and trapping to hold down the species’ growth. Why it matters: Wild hogs – which now number 1 million in Florida – can destroy fields of crops by foraging up to three feet deep. They also attack young livestock and carry diseases that humans and other animals are susceptible to contracting. Reducing the numbers of these resilient animals has proved difficult, with many states struggling to do so. One new method involves farmers placing contraceptive-laden food into feeders, causing reduced sperm counts for male hogs who ingest it. By the numbers: The number of wild hogs in the Sunshine State has doubled in the last 20 years, from about 500,000 in 2005 to 1 million today. Some estimates say there are now more than 9 million wild hogs in the United States, with Florida ranking third in the nation after Texas and Georgia. These hogs are estimated to cost Florida’s cattle industry more than $2 million a year in lost production, and causes huge losses to peanut farms, too. A University of Georgia study said the cost to the U.S. from the wild hogs could be as high as $2.5 billion annually. The bigger picture The free roaming hogs are not native to the United States, but were first domesticated in Eurasia more than 8,000 years ago, according to Managing Wild Pigs, a 60-page guide from the Berryman Institute. “Given their adaptability and ability to survive in the wild, they were a popular livestock for American settlers colonizing new areas and were probably first introduced into the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1493,” the report said. Wild hogs are prolific, with females reaching sexual maturity at an early age, often reproducing twice annually with litters between six and 10 hogs. They use their large snouts to root below ground in search of insects and worms, a process that can destroy crops. They also eat eggs of valuable livestock, including calves, fawns and turkey. More details In 2021, the Texas Department of Agriculture announced a breakthrough – that it was employing a new oral birth control, HogStop, to reduce the wild swine’s fertility. “Texas farmers and ranchers need every tool they can get their hands on to stop these hogs,” Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said at the time. Oklahoma, California, Louisiana, Hawaii and New York came on board soon thereafter, HogStop founder Daniel Loper told EPN. The product, he said, must win approval in each state “to make sure our label matches what they want.” “We’re actually working on that with Florida,” he added. HogStop’s active ingredient – cotton oil – is already widely used in animal feed. But it’s specially designed for hogs to reduce fertility “up to eight weeks at a time,” Loper said. The birth control feed, he said, is best used in conjunction with hunting and trapping.
