Feral Pig Management Research Articles

What can decision analysis do for invasive species management?

Decisions about management of invasive species are difficult for all the reasons typically addressed by multiattribute decision analysis: uncertain outcomes, multiple and conflicting objectives, and many interested parties with differing views on both facts and values. This article illustrates how the tools of multiattribute analysis can improve management of invasive species, with an emphasis on making explicit the social values and preferences that must inform invasive species management. Risk assessment protocols developed previously for invasive species management typically suffer from two interacting flaws: (1) separating risk assessment from risk management, thus disrupting essential connections between the social values at stake in invasive species decisions and the scientific knowledge necessary to predict the likely impacts of management actions, and (2) relying on expert judgment about risk framed in qualitative and value-laden terms, inadvertently mixing the expert's judgment about what is likely to happen with personal preferences. Using the values structuring and probability-modeling elements of formal decision analysis can remedy these difficulties and make invasive species management responsive to both good science and public values. The management of feral pigs in Hawaiian ecosystems illustrates the need for such an integrated approach.

Feral pigs in Namadgi National Park, Australia: dynamics, impacts and management

Feral pigs ( Sus scrofa) have spread through Namadgi National Park (NNP) in south-eastern Australia since the early 1960s at a mean rate of 4 km/year. Pigs were abundant (approximately 1–2 pigs km −2) during the mid-1980s. Research from 1985 to 2000 inclusive has demonstrated a positive curved relationship across years between the frequency of occurrence of pig rooting and pig abundance (R 2=0.48; P<0.001) and the extent of ground rooting; more pigs, more rooting. The ground rooting decreased plant species richness. There was a negative curved relationship between plant species richness and the extent of pig rooting at two sites (R 2=0.81; P<0.0001 and R 2=0.67; P<0.0001), with plant richness declining to zero with intensive pig rooting. Since the mid 1980s intensive pig control work has resulted in a significant (R 2=0.39; P<0.001) decline in pig abundance with an annual instantaneous rate of change ( r) of −0.15 between 1985 and 2000 inclusive. The results and their implications for biodiversity conservation and feral pig management are discussed.

Managing a Multiple-Use Resource: The Case of Feral Pig Management in California Rangeland

Many wildlife populations cause damage in agricultural systems but are also valued resources, either for their recreational value or for their existence and contribution to biological diversity. As a result, the nature of a given species—whether it is considered a “pest” or a “resource”—is often determined by the economic and regulatory environment in which the species exists. In this paper we develop a bioeconomic model of one such environment. We apply the model to the case of feral pigs in California rangeland and consider the potential for recreational hunting as a policy for population control.

Ecology and management of feral pigs in Australian tropical rainforests

Author(s): Mitchell, Jim | Abstract: Information on the ecological impacts of feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in the World Heritage Listed tropical rainforests of northern Queensland, Australia, are limited. This study quantifies and qualifies aspects of the ecological impact, spatial and temporal digging activities and home range and seasonal movement patterns of feral pigs. Feral pigs have seasonal digging activities with a preference for moist microhabitats at the start of the dry season. Feral pigs in this region have defined sedentary home ranges, and their distribution patterns appear to be influenced by microhabitat factors including earthworm populations and water availability. Digging activity decreases rainforest seedling survival rates by 36%. Management strategies should concentrate on a coordinated, regional, community based approach.

Community based feral pig management in northern Australia's wet tropics

A community based approach to feral pig (Sus scrofa) management has been adopted in the Wet Tropics region of northern Queensland (Australia) to foster adoption of best practice principles and community ownership of the problem. The program has demonstrated trapping as a successful control technique in an environmentally sensitive area as well as key concepts desirable for community involvement in natural resource management. Approximately 700 traps are currently available for use by 41 community-based trappers, with more than 10,000 feral pig captures documented since 1993.

Conflict, uncertainty and risk in feral pig management Australian approach

In spite of its relatively long history, the regulatory approach to feral pig management adopted by Australia has not been successful. Our first objective in this paper is to analyse the Australian regulatory approach to feral pig management. This is to, determine how it addresses the issues of conflict, uncertainty, risk and complexity which characterize feral pig management and to identify the reasons for its lack of success. Our second objective is to point out some of the implications of this analysis for the management of feral pig populations in countries where feral pig issues are comparable to Australia's.