The Wild Razorback Boar

The Sus scrofa, commonly known as the wild boar is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig and have many subspecies. Their heads are larger than the rest of their bodies, and their legs are short. Most of their fur consists of stiff bristles and some softer fur. It originated in Eurasia such as Japan, Northern Africa, and the Malayan Islands, but now found in at least 45 states of the United States. They are found more in southeastern United States in states such as Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma, but now have spread to the west coast to states such as California and Oregon. A Spanish explorer named, Hernando Desoto brought it to southeastern United States to be kept as domestic pigs for food, and later used as a game source for humans. Due to free-range livestock management practices, illegal translocation, and even escaping from enclosures, the wild boar population rapidly increased and spread throughout the United States. They are crepuscular or nocturnal and eats almost anything in their path because they are omnivorous scavengers. By consuming threatened or endangered species, and native seed crops, they caused alternations in succession sequences, and reduction of overall species diversity in their habitats. There are less breeding sites, and 20,000 tons of sugarcane estimated to be loss each year due to the wild boar. Since they eat a lot of vegetation, they caused some places to lack vegetation; therefore there are more erosions in those areas, along with less habitat for the native species. Not only do they destroy natural habitats, they also spread infections and parasites to domestic livestock, and several serious diseases to other animals and humans can also be affected. To control its population size, humans trap them to kill or remove from area, and create fences around desire location. Hunting is another method of controlling population size, but it is currently only allowed in Oklahoma. The cost to control this species depends on the method and materials used.

Bibliography:
http://oklahomainvasivespecies.okstate.edu/wild_boar.html http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/animals-behaving-worse/americas-least-wanted/911/ http://wildpiginfo.msstate.edu/history-wild-pigs.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_boar#Natural_predators