Wild hogs have caused widespread damage and more and more attacks are being reported on humans in recent years. According to an article in the South Florida Sun Sentinel, officials from all over the country are warning of a “wild pig bomb”.
“Wild hogs, an invasive species of pig first brought to Florida by Spanish settlers in the 1500s, have now been seen in at least 35 states and are destroying farmers’ crops, tearing up gardens and, in some cases, even attacking humans.”
These feral hogs have mostly populated southern states like Florida and Texas but have spread north to states like Michigan and Vermont. Wild pig attacks while relatively rare still outnumber shark attacks. Between 2014 and 2023, shark attacks averaged at about 5.7 world wide while wild pig attacks averaged at 19.7.
“The biggest threat the pigs pose is to agriculture, rolling around in the dirt to cool off, rooting for food and eating crops, their favorite of which is corn. Still other dangers loom on the horizon: across the ocean, wild pigs carry a deadly disease that could decimate the U.S. pork industry. Meanwhile, growing numbers of pigs combined with increasing development over once-wild lands means greater potential for ruined gardens and rare, but possible, attacks on humans.”
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