Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Monday, July 18, 2011
(UNDATED) - The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is trying to address the state’s wild hog population with new regulations.
The wild pigs can be trapped and hunted, but new regulations state they pigs must be killed immediately once discovered in a trap.
DNR Wildlife Biologist Steve Backs says the population began to grow in the late 90s as pigs escaped from farm pens and were never found, or from unwanted pets released into the wild.
The largest populations are found mostly in southern Indiana counties.
Backs says the feral animals can be very destructive to properties and are live carriers of diseases that can be passed to humans as well as other pigs.
Backs says most large hog producers have Biosecurity measures in place to prevent the spread of disease.
There is a concern for what are known as "transition herds" such as people with just a few pigs on their properties or 4-h projects.
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