Feral pigs are one out of many different species that have become invasive in different spots around the world. For a species to be invasive it means that the species is not native to it’s current location and the species will often cause damage to the environment, human economy, or human health. Feral pigs are native to Asia and Europe, but were brought to Australia by European explorers and settlers. At first, the pigs were used as domesticated companions, but as they escaped captivity, they began reproducing rapidly and creating a large wild pig population. Now, the feral pig population has become a widespread problem across Australia, costing their economy millions upon millions to try and fix what the pigs are destroying. The feral pigs …show more content…
The pigs prey on many of the native animals within the area including: bird eggs, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and soil invertebrates. This causes problems for the native species because the native species are being eaten faster than they can reproduce. This causes many of them to be endangered and some to even go extinct, “They also prey on ground dwelling mammals, reptiles and birds, in some cases putting extensive pressure on rare and endangered species.” (Feral Pig Problems in Australia). In addition to killing the animals in the area, they also destroy the habitat, it is known as habitat degradation. They are able to do this because of the characteristics that they have in order to allow them to be invasive. Some of these characteristics are they are able to live almost anywhere, eat almost anything because they are omnivores, they reproduce rapidly, and they have low rates of natural mortality. Overall, the feral pigs are causing major problems with the native species and the …show more content…
One of the first options that they have come up with is simply trapping/fencing the pigs into a confined area,”Fencing is an expensive option, but can effectively prevent feral pigs from reaching lambs or grain crops if used before feral pigs become habituated to the food source.”(Feral Pig Problems in Australia). The problem with this solution is the pigs would most likely be able to escape the captivity like they had initially, so they would still cause problems. Another solution that they came up with was shooting the feral pigs. This would help lessen their population, but the only thing stopping them from doing it is morals. Overall, in my opinion I believe that the shooting would be the best method to getting rid of the feral