A follow up and open letter.
After considering further my previous article on plans of the U.S. Forest Service to eradicate a small population of wild pigs in the San Diego area, I have decided to join the fray and make my voice heard. Not because I have a special hunting interest at stake. Fort Tejon is closer to my location than San Diego. But mainly because the matter of the wild boar in the El Capitan area always has been beset by an unusual combination of self-centered interests of local hunters, local ranchers and merchants and of fighting words emanating from presumably Indian sources. The wild pigs 'escaped' from an Indian Reservation.
The terrain occupied by the boar is extremely difficult to access both because of the steep, rugged, brushy landscape but also because it is riddled with private land and Indian territories. People in control of the few access points are quite hostile - to put it mildly.
Hunting is difficult at best, success therefore hard to achieve.
The discussion about what to do with the "rampaging" boar stands out mainly for its exaggeration of the dangers of boar, their destructive tendencies and their almost magical powers to field new piggy monsters in large numbers. If one believed the statements about the effects of the wild pigs on the environment, flora, fauna and human, one had to conclude that doomsday is near.
Only one action can save us now:
Call in the cavalry . . . uuuuhhmmm. . . the helicopters.
Not so fast.
There are alternatives. I summed up many of them in a letter to the Environmental Coordinator of the U.S. Forest Service for the San Diego area.
Here it goes:
Pete Gomben
Environmental coordinator
Cleveland National Forest
10845 Rancho Bernardo Road, Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92127
pgomben@fs.fed.us
Wild pigs in San Diego County have been the subject of several articles published in my blog about wild boar hunting in Southern California.
The discussion about the boar and the potential damage they can inflict on the environment is about to reach a fever pitch that appears to prevent a rational discussion. Numerous interests groups promote only their view of the issue.
Wild pig hunters welcome the big game and are eager to engage in active hunting of the animals. Local ranchers and landowners have greeted the newcomers with a somewhat limited enthusiasm because they would like to keep the boar mostly for themselves. Some for sausage and others to sell the meat in their local stores.
Local tribal Indians who are responsible for the wild pig problem in San Diego county in the first place now have adopted a “holier then thou” attitude and are actively promoting the removal of 'their' wild pigs by any means possible.
What a contrast to comments we received (and published) here at our publication months ago when boar hunters were threatened with shooting and immediate confiscation of their equipment and weapons by presumably the very same Indians.
Finally, there are quite obviously the business interests of owners and pilots of helicopters who see yet another opportunity to dip their hands into public coffers while experiencing the thrill of the “hunt” from safety.
Scientific research has clearly established several factors that seem to be overlooked in this heated discussion of how to control the wild pigs.
1. The amount of damage a wild pig population creates depends to a significant degree on the availability and abundance of their natural food sources. Most important among them is the availability of mast. Only when these resources are depleted will the animals invade cultured crops and human habitations. Eighty percent and more of the boar diet consists of plant matter and not toads. You would certainly not decry the disappearance of an occasional rattlesnake, would you?
2. Boar rooting can under certain circumstances even be beneficial to the environment as long as it is not excessive.
3. Trapping, according to detailed studies and based on experience, can remove maybe 20 to 30 percent of a boar population. However, trapping will become less effective over time since the wild pigs learn how to avoid and defeat traps. In addition, the void created by animal removal will quickly be filled by newcomers.
4. Scientific experiments have established that active, vigorous and sustained hunting can reduce boar populations by up to 60 percent (40 to 60).
5. According to other studies approximately 75 percent of a wild pig populations must be removed permanently in order to prevent population growth, that is to keep it at a manageable level.
6. Australian wild pig eradicators using helicopter (sic) to eliminate wild pigs found that the animals soon learned to adapt to being hunted from helicopters. They adopted quickly a 'play dead' strategy when under attack from the brave men in their flying machines.
Helicopters were used in the eradication of wild pigs on Santa Cruz Island. The result? While the strategy initially proved successful to a certain degree, not all boar could be eliminated by helicopter use alone. A certain number of 'smart pigs' remained immune to helicopter attack. Boots on the ground were eventually required to get them.
7. Helicopter based wholesale slaughter of wild pigs will most likely only drive the survivors further into the most inaccessible terrain where traps, hunters and heroes in helicopters will find it exceedingly difficult to make a significant impact.
8. European and other foreign countries conducted very promising scientific studies on the use of contraceptives for the control of wild boar.
9. Oh, and I almost forgot, poisoning is out of the question for very obvious reasons.
Let me summarize:
None of the methods of wild pig control and eradication considered by the U.S. forest Service will in and by itself eliminate the thorny issue.
A combination of sustained trapping, intensive hunting and possibly the use of contraceptives can however reduce the wild pig population and keep it at a manageable level.
First and foremost however must come a change in attitude.
It is counterproductive to stoke the fear of dangerous killer boar taking over and destroying a pristine environment.
Ranchers and landowners ought to refrain from claiming the wild pigs for themselves and for their use alone. It is selfish to claim 'Foreign hunters – not on my land'.
Indian tribes that contributed to the problem of wild pigs in the County would pay a small price for the “environmental disaster” they created (if one can believe the doomsday sayers) by allowing trespass through their territories on the way to hunting grounds on public land.
And the U.S. forest Service has the knowledge, experience, manpower and the strength to resist the pressure from well- meaning but selectively informed interested parties to develop and implement a balanced resolution of the issues. Numerous wild pig populations in the Los Padres National forest and adjacent areas as well as in other National forest still have not yet managed to grind farming, animal husbandry, agriculture, forestry to a halt. Nor have they succeeded in completely eradicating rare species.
We do not need unfettered fear mongering but easier and safer access to areas with burgeoning wild boar populations. Then active and sustained hunting and active trapping together will be able to keep the wild pigs in check. San Diego County could then be spared the shame of inflicting wanton, inhumane, unfair suffering and wholesale slaughter on an entire population of animals.
Peter Jaeckle
Wild Boar Hunting In California And Worldwide
