SEAFWA 2017

AUTHORS: Jessica L. Tegt, Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture, Mississippi State

ABSTRACT: Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are arguably one of the greatest wildlife management challenges facing natural resource professionals and landowners in the United States. Although significant resources have been allocated to address research and management needs of wild pigs, only marginal success on a distribution wide scale has been achieved to date. As with other wildlife conservation and management issues, there exists a myriad of stakeholder groups that are impacted by the management (or lack thereof) of wild pigs which increases the complexity of managing these animals. In this presentation I will provide an overview of the current estimates of wild pig damage to agriculture and natural resources in North America, status of recent management success and challenges in managing this species, and conclude by highlighting the complex nature of the interactions among of biological, political, social, and economic aspects of our current “wild pig problem.”