FishOn!!
09-12-2008, 06:56 PM
Wild Hogs Focus of September Events
BATH, Mich. –The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, in cooperation with the Michigan Farm Bureau, Michigan Pork Producers Association and the Chippewa Nature Center, will hold two free educational events this September aimed at increasing awareness about our state’s growing problem with wild hogs. The non-profit organization is bringing in Dr. John Mayer, of South Carolina, to help address issues related to the rapid spread of the animals. Wild hogs, many of Eurasian stock, have been escaping from commercial game ranches in Michigan for at least a decade, and have now been confirmed in at least 63 of Michigan’s 83 counties.
Dr. Mayer is perhaps the nation’s foremost expert on wild hogs. He will speak in the Midland area on Saturday, September 13 at the Chippewa Nature Center at 3:30 p.m. and at the Conservancy’s Bengel Wildlife Center in Bath, northeast of Lansing on Sunday, September 14 at 3:00 p.m. Both sessions are free and open to the public.
Dr. Mayer has studied wild hogs in the U.S. for more than 30 years. He notes that for quite a while the number of states with free-roaming wild hogs held at 19. But since 1990 the number has jumped to 32 with feral hog damage to crops, lawns, fences and natural habitats conservatively estimated at $800 million annually.
The wild hogs in Michigan are mostly in small bands of fewer than 20 animals. They have dispersed many miles from the game ranches and are reproducing. State officials have little information on how many are roaming the landscape, but have already received hog-caused crop and forest damage reports in both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. Biologists recently noted damage in the Pigeon River Country State Forest and state land in Marquette County.
The wild hogs can spread diseases. In May, the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) confirmed pseudorabies virus (PRV) in free-roaming hogs in Saginaw and Gratiot Counties as well as in several commercial ranches. That disease is a huge threat to Michigan’s domestic swine industry, and the MDA, with help from the DNR and the federal government, is hurriedly mobilizing to enforce quarantines, test animals for disease, and eliminate captive infected hogs.
Legislation has been drafted to grant authority to stop the keeping of wild hogs behind fences, but it may be a classic case of the “horse already out of the barn,” says Dr. Patrick Rusz, the Wildlife Conservancy’s director of wildlife programs. “Once they became established, none of the 32 other U.S. states with wild hogs were able to eliminate them despite massive and expensive efforts. Most state agencies in “hog country” have given up on eradicating the animals, which are notorious for eluding hunters and quickly expanding their numbers and range,” noted Dr. Rusz.
“The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy thinks it is important that citizens learn about this very serious issue,” said the organization’s President, David Haywood, of Lansing. “It will be impossible to control wild hogs at this stage without the help of the Michigan public.”
For more information about the September events or Michigan’s wild hog problem, contact the Conservancy at 517-641-7677 or email wildlife@miwildlife.org.
BATH, Mich. –The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, in cooperation with the Michigan Farm Bureau, Michigan Pork Producers Association and the Chippewa Nature Center, will hold two free educational events this September aimed at increasing awareness about our state’s growing problem with wild hogs. The non-profit organization is bringing in Dr. John Mayer, of South Carolina, to help address issues related to the rapid spread of the animals. Wild hogs, many of Eurasian stock, have been escaping from commercial game ranches in Michigan for at least a decade, and have now been confirmed in at least 63 of Michigan’s 83 counties.
Dr. Mayer is perhaps the nation’s foremost expert on wild hogs. He will speak in the Midland area on Saturday, September 13 at the Chippewa Nature Center at 3:30 p.m. and at the Conservancy’s Bengel Wildlife Center in Bath, northeast of Lansing on Sunday, September 14 at 3:00 p.m. Both sessions are free and open to the public.
Dr. Mayer has studied wild hogs in the U.S. for more than 30 years. He notes that for quite a while the number of states with free-roaming wild hogs held at 19. But since 1990 the number has jumped to 32 with feral hog damage to crops, lawns, fences and natural habitats conservatively estimated at $800 million annually.
The wild hogs in Michigan are mostly in small bands of fewer than 20 animals. They have dispersed many miles from the game ranches and are reproducing. State officials have little information on how many are roaming the landscape, but have already received hog-caused crop and forest damage reports in both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. Biologists recently noted damage in the Pigeon River Country State Forest and state land in Marquette County.
The wild hogs can spread diseases. In May, the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) confirmed pseudorabies virus (PRV) in free-roaming hogs in Saginaw and Gratiot Counties as well as in several commercial ranches. That disease is a huge threat to Michigan’s domestic swine industry, and the MDA, with help from the DNR and the federal government, is hurriedly mobilizing to enforce quarantines, test animals for disease, and eliminate captive infected hogs.
Legislation has been drafted to grant authority to stop the keeping of wild hogs behind fences, but it may be a classic case of the “horse already out of the barn,” says Dr. Patrick Rusz, the Wildlife Conservancy’s director of wildlife programs. “Once they became established, none of the 32 other U.S. states with wild hogs were able to eliminate them despite massive and expensive efforts. Most state agencies in “hog country” have given up on eradicating the animals, which are notorious for eluding hunters and quickly expanding their numbers and range,” noted Dr. Rusz.
“The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy thinks it is important that citizens learn about this very serious issue,” said the organization’s President, David Haywood, of Lansing. “It will be impossible to control wild hogs at this stage without the help of the Michigan public.”
For more information about the September events or Michigan’s wild hog problem, contact the Conservancy at 517-641-7677 or email wildlife@miwildlife.org.