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Wild Boar

Sus scrofa

A wild boar AKA a feral pig or hog, weighs about 150 to 220 pounds. Its average size is 3 to 6 feet long, and lives for about 9 to 10 years. The wild boar is an omnivore, which consists of a diet of both plants and animals. These pigs live in places like forests and wetlands.

By Eva Wade

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/wild-boar

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The wild boar is native to Eurasia which is located by the Atlantic Ocean and to the west is Africa. The wild boars niche in its native ecosystem is that it prefers grassy areas, wooded land, rural farms, and marshy swamps. They like to live in areas that are plentiful in water and vegetation. Their prey and diet consists of 90% plants and 10% animals like insects, reptiles, amphibians, and rodents. Wild boars compete with deer and turkey for land and for food. The boars main predators in Florida are packs of wolves, dogs, bears, and humans. Limiting factors of boars are access to food and water and hunters.

By: Jane Corrigan

https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/terrestrial/vertebrates/wild-boar#:~:text=Scientific%20Name,Eurasia%20(Rouhe%20and%20Sytsma%202007)

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The wild boar (Sus scrofa) is an invasive species that currently occurs in all sixty-seven counties in Florida. The wild boar is found in a wide variety of habitats including oak-cabbage palm hammocks, freshwater marshes, and wider open agricultural areas. Hogs have existed in Florida in small, Native quantities for hundreds of years. These hogs may have been introduced to Florida by Hernando De Soto, a Spanish conquistador, as early as 1539.

By: Tristan Willmott

https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/mammals/land/wild-hog/

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3 Effects the Wild Boar has on Florida:

According to research.ufl.edu,

1. The pigs collect food by digging in the ground, causing the native vegetation to weaken or uproot.

2. They roll around or lay in mud ruining small ponds and stream banks that can affect the quality of water.

3. Wild boars prey on ground-nesting animals causing a decrease in the wildlife.

By Eva Wade

https://research.ufl.edu/publications/explore/v10n3/extract6.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWild%2520hogs%2520compete%2520for%2520food,including%2520poultry%252C%2520lambs%2520and%2520goats.

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The boar is in the omnivore trophic level.  An example for a food web in Florida for the boar is grass the (primary producer) because a mouse (primary consumer) eats it then a boar (secondary consumer) eats the mouse and a wolf (secondary consumer) eats the boar and a bear (tertiary consumer) eats the wolf but can also consume the boar.

By: Jane Corrigan

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3 Possible Methods for Controlling the Wild Boar:

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3 Possible Methods for Controlling the Wild Boar:

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1. Having an annual tournament for killing wild boars during the hunting season for wild boars, with a cash prize.

Pros:
-Many boars will be killed
-Wild boar tusks could be taken from the dead boars and used to benefit humans
-Destroying of the environment is minimized.

Cons:
-Not all of the boars will be killed, but a majority of them will be
-Other wildlife could be endangered during the tournament
-Getting funding for the tournament.

2. A report and kill system for boars all throughout Florida. The idea is to create a system where Florida residents are able to report boar sightings, subsequently marking them to be hunted.  This system would be introduced through local Florida media, where the ads would educate about the dangers of boars.

Pros:
-Would help hunters find boars
-Would help with the over population of boars
-Would help educate Florida residents on boar dense areas in Florida.

Cons:
-Would be very expense to create
-Would need government help
-Malfunctions with the system can happen.

3. To control the wild boar population set up a trap system to trap the boars. The traps would be located in a high boar population area in Florida. The traps would be metal and have a door with a spring attachment. It would be big enough to hold multiple boars. After the boars are captured they would be killed and their meat can be processed and sold. An organization run through the government can generate this proposal and they would benefit from the money.

Pros:
- Reduce the wild boar population in Florida.
- Produces money from the meat.
- Multiple boars can be trapped in one trap.

Cons:
- Expensive to buy traps and process the boar meat.
- Government would have to hire a group of people to make an organization which would use government funding.
- This is very time consuming due to the boars could take a long time to enter the trap.
- Boars could possibly escape the trap.

(1) By Eva Wade
(2) By Tristan Willmontt
(3) By Jane Corrigan

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The Best Method of Controlling Wild Boars

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The Best Method of Controlling Wild Boars

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The best method of controlling invasive boars is having a hunting tournament.
Our reasons include:

1. Cheapest/easiest method because people have to pay to participate in the tournament. Then the person who killed the most boars will win a cash prize that is from the money that you to pay to enter the tournament.

2. A lot of boars would be hunted and killed which results in a decrease of the wild boar population.

3. This option is the one that best minimizes the environments destruction. For example, wild boars dig for food which messes up vegetation. Also, they lay in mud and dirt which decreases water quality.

To put this method into action there will need to be advertising, approval from the state/governors, hunting boundaries, and only hunting during hunting season. We will need a cash prize, Florida residents that are willing to hunt and pay for the tournament, and a working committee that leads and directs it.
We need permission from the government to put this event on because it would happen on state land. We would also need participants to compete and hunt to be able to make this successful.
The success would be measured by hunters turning in all the boars they killed. The boars would be counted and the hunter who killed the most will win the tournament and the cash prize.

By: Jane Corrigan(typed), Eva Wade, and Tristan Willmontt

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“Wild Boar, Facts and Information.” Animals,      www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/wild-boar. Accessed 15 May 2024.

“Wild Boar.” Wild Boar | National Invasive Species Information Center, www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/terrestrial/vertebrates/wild-boar#:~:text=Scientific%20Name,Eurasia%20(Rouhe%20and%20Sytsma%202007). Accessed 15 May 2024.

“Wild Hog.” Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission, myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/mammals/land/wild-hog/. Accessed 15 May 2024.

“Hog Wild In Florida! Feral Pigs A Problem.” Extracts - Hog Wild in Florida! Feral Pigs a Problem, research.ufl.edu/publications/explore/v10n3/extract6.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWild%252520hogs%252520compete%252520for%252520food,including%252520poultry%25252C%252520lambs%252520and%252520goats. Accessed 15 May 2024.

By Eva Wade