The Conservation Department is getting more aggressive with eradicating wild hogs. Spokesman Bill Heatherly says the population of feral hogs has been growing under the department’s old hunter-based strategy. So, he says the department is taking a different approach. He says the department will use helicopters, sharp shooting and baiting and trapping techniques in an effort to eliminate free-ranging swine from the state. These tactics might seem extreme, but Heatherly says the department is committed to eliminating feral hogs from Missouri land.
Heatherly says the "destructive pests" need to be eliminated because they pose a threat to human and animal health and to the state’s economic and ecological well-being. He says just one wild hog is one too many. The Department estimates there are between 5,000 and 10,000 hogs currently in the state.
AUDIO: Laura McNamara reports (:60 MP3)
