Wild hogs that kill more people than sharks wreak havoc on school causing more than $150,000 worth of damage
The boars managed to dig holes in the ground over six inches deep, causing officials to set up barricades around the mess
An invasion of wild hogs has wreaked havoc at a California school causing over $150,000 worth of damage.
Geyserville New Tech Academy in northern Sonoma County came under attack from the animals who ripped up the turf all over the campus.
The boars managed to dig holes in the ground over six inches deep, causing officials to set up barricades around the mess.
Images captured by the Press Democrat lay bare the devastation caused by the animals, with areas of grass completely ripped apart.
So far, those responsible have evaded the authorities. But Geyserville Unified School District Superintendent Deborah Bertolucci told SFGate they had seen six.
Images captured by the Press Democrat lay bare the devastation caused by the animals, with areas of grass completely ripped apart
According to Bertolucci, the damage on campus was perpetrated by two adults and four juvenile boars.
She said: 'At first, I thought my maintenance crew was doing repairs on our sprinklers. Then I realized, 'Oh no, it's the pigs.' It's crazy.'
Jason Lish, a supervisor of facilities maintenance at the school told the Press Democrat that they have hired a trapper to stop the animals.
He said: 'The only good thing about all this is they found a sewer cap I'd been looking for.'
The animals have frequently plagued the middle and high school destroying their soccer, baseball and softball fields last year.
Bertolucci said that the damage 'caused a lot of chaos with out sports programs', and they erected a $50,000 chain-link fence to keep the animals out.
Despite the fence, the animals resorted to ripping up grass at other parts of the campus, focusing on the main entrance.
Bertolucci added: 'The pigs just decided to attack other parts of our campus', dredging up a school garden where students had been planting roses.
The garden was supposed to help restore the native habitat and help attract pollinators but only lured in the wild pigs instead.
According to the outlet the population of wild pigs has boomed in the state and live in 56 out of the 58 California counties.
The Golden State isn't the only one struggling with the issue with officials across the country warning of a 'feral swine bomb' due to a huge increase in their numbers.
Wild hogs have now been seen in at least 35 states and are destroying farmers' crops, tearing up gardens and, in some cases, even attacking humans.
One longtime animal trapper, Craig Greene, recalled a terrifying encounter with the wild pigs in 2008.
He described hiding in his own three-feet tall cage, knowing there was no one nearby to save him, until they eventually ran off and he could escape.
'I know when they kill you, they'll eat you while you're screaming,' he said. 'I'd rather get eaten by an alligator.'
Wild pig attacks are relatively rare - but they still outnumber all species of shark attacks combined, research showed.
In 1982, feral swine populations were localized mostly to Florida, Texas and parts of California
But by 2023, feral swines have fully colonized the southern US, along with California
Between 2014 and 2023, there was an average of 5.8 fatal shark attacks worldwide compared to 19.7 wild pig attacks, AgWeb reported.
In 2024 alone, there have already been seven deaths globally from wild pig incidents, the outlet added - and revealed the number of humans killed had climbed steadily from 2000 to 2019 to a total of 172 deaths.
Dr. John Mayer, a research scientist and manager at the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina, told AgWeb: 'Tigers, Indian elephants, Nile crocodiles, and venomous snakes kill more people than wild pigs, but wild pigs are certainly worse than bears, wolves, and all shark species put together.
'Wild pigs are nowhere near the worst of the worst, but they're far more dangerous than people believe,' he added, describing the vicious 'stab-and-slash' wounds inflicted by boars.
In 2019 a Texas caregiver, 59, was mauled to death by a pack of wild hogs while outside the home of the elderly couple she looks after, before being partially eaten.
And the potential for dangerous encounters between pigs and humans is set to increase as the land animals used to have free reign on is developed.
Pigs now exist in all 67 Florida counties and wreak the most havoc in inland areas in the middle of the state.
Wild hogs also have the potential to doom the US pork industry, which supports more than 600,000 American jobs and generates $178 billion in sales on a yearly basis, according to the National Pork Producers Council.
The animals in Asia have been spreading a fatal disease for pigs called the African Swine Fever. After it was first reported in northeastern China in August 2018, it caused the death of over one million pigs, according to Reuters.
Experts warn that if this disease crossed the ocean to the US, it would have a devastating effect.
2 comments:
I didn't know boars could read.
I am looking to purchase some acreage in deep East Texas. It is littered with wild hogs. These animals are very smart and will avoid traps and areas where they have been successfully hunted. They like low lying swampy areas but can turn up anywhere. They are dangerous and will charge you. A small cal. round may not take them down. If you're thinking eating wild hogs their meat doesn't taste like farm raised pork.
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