How invasive feral hogs spread across North Texas and became a costly, dangerous problem for communities

Early in the morning Wednesday, southbound traffic on I-45 near Dallas came to a halt. It wasn't a typical crash, however.

TxDOT reported that several feral hogs were hit and killed near Belt Line Road, leading to the jam. The incident prompted crews to be called in for cleanup amid the traffic nightmare.

The I-45 headache came days after CBS News Texas published a report about how feral hogs have beleaguered a neighborhood in Mesquite, causing damage as they roam about. While residents have been told to report sightings, city officials said Mesquite's animal services division is unable to trap or remove them.

The unusual crash underscores a growing problem across North Texas, where invasive wild pigs — now found in nearly every county — are increasingly encroaching on neighborhoods and roadways, causing damage, safety concerns and costly disruptions.

Christopher Columbus and the history of wild hogs in America

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) published a web page in 2020 that discusses the management of wild pigs. 

The page notes that pigs are not native to North America; they were first introduced to the West Indies — what we now know as The Caribbean — by Christopher Columbus in 1493, and then to the continental United States by Hernando de Soto in 1539 along the Florida coast. While domesticated pigs were sustainable, low-maintenance food sources, TPWD notes the pigs were left behind as explorers moved across the continent, thus leading to those pigs becoming feral.

To note, European settlers and Native Americans did implement free-range farming of domestic pigs, but it promoted the spread of feral pig populations.

As of 2020, TWPD said the current free-range pig population in the U.S. is made up of feral pigs, Eurasian wild boars, and hybrids that resulted from cross-breeding of both populations.

Where are wild pigs located in Texas?

The short answer: almost everywhere across the state.

TWPD's map on the 2020 webpage shows that feral pigs are found in almost every county in the Lone Star State as of 2019, with only El Paso County in far west Texas reported as unoccupied by the animals. This coincides with a steady population growth; across the U.S., TWPD says wild pigs grew in numbers from 1982 through 2016, from 2.4 million to just shy of 7 million, with about 2.6 million living in Texas.

Aren't there natural predators challenging feral hogs?

Yes: People. Humans are the most significant predator of wild pigs in the U.S., per TPWD.

There are other predators: coyotes, bobcats, and golden eagles. But TPWD says those other animals may opportunistically prey upon immature wild pigs. The biggest natural predators are American alligators, mountain lions and black bears, which hunt the pigs more frequently. 

Even then, that type of predation, as TWPD notes, "plays a minor role in wild pig mortality".

Why are wild pigs so bad?

Wild pigs, as TPWD notes, are one of the top 100 worst exotic invasive species in the world. A chief reason is because they cause plenty of damage wherever they roam.

TPWD said that researchers in 2007 estimated that Americans spent more than $1.5 billion  in damages and control costs tied to the animals. Assuming that cost has remained constant, annual costs are likely close to $2.1 billion as of 2020.

Most of the damage wild pigs do involves rooting or eating plant and animal materials, per TPWD. They also can make water sources dirty and introduce diseases to other animals. These impacts affect both local ecosystems and the agricultural industry.

Beyond the ecological and agricultural impacts, wild hogs can also be dangerous to people. In 2019, CBS News Texas shared that a caretaker in Anahuac — located east of Houston — was found dead at the home of an elderly couple she was caring for after she was attacked by a group of feral hogs. Authorities said Christine Rollins, who was 59 years old when she was killed, was likely attacked early in the morning and when it was still dark outside.

Measures to address the overpopulation of feral hogs

A variety of policies and actions have been taken in Texas, with varying degrees of success.

In 2017, state lawmakers approved a law that allows hunters to shoot both wild pigs and coyotes from hot air balloons. A license for hunting via hot air balloon is required.

Amid the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, CBS News Texas shared that Coy Hirth started trapping and killing the wild hogs, giving away frozen wild boar meat to families that couldn't afford food. He got a wild game processing plant in Dallas to package the meat from the animals he trapped, and Hirth also recruited help from other area hog trappers.

But feral hogs have continued to become a problem in North Texas suburbs, including traffic incidents like the Wednesday morning crash. Roanoke, in southern Denton County, increased police presence in one neighborhood as more complaints came in.  

There have been other snags as well. In 2011, Fort Worth animal control officers were called by a resident who said they had trapped a feral pig that ended up being someone else's pet. The pig, named Peanut, was euthanized before anyone learned he was a pet. Fort Worth's policy was to immediately euthanize feral hogs.