Invasive Wild Pigs in North America: Ecology, Impacts, and Management

Throughout North America, non-native wild pigs have become an ecologically and economically destructive invasive species. Though they are regarded as a popular game species by some, provide economic benefits to others, and are even engrained into societal heritage in some areas, wild pigs are responsible for an extraordinary amount of damage in both natural and anthropogenic systems throughout North America. As the density and range of wild pig habitat have substantially increased over the last several decades, the magnitude and diversity of their negative impacts are not yet fully realized or quantified. With various conflicts continually emerging, wild pig management is difficult and expensive to achieve. As a result, wild pigs represent one of the greatest wildlife management challenges North America faces in the 21st century.

Invasive Wild Pigs in North America: Ecology, Impacts, and Management addresses all aspects of wild pig biology, ecology, damage, and management in a single comprehensive volume. It assimilates and organizes information on the most destructive introduced vertebrate species in the United States, establishing a foundation from which managers, researchers, policy makers, and other stakeholders can build upon into the future. The book provides comprehensive coverage of wild pig biology and ecology, techniques for management and research, and regional chapters. It is an asset to readers interested in wild pigs, the resources they impact, and how to mitigate those impacts, and establishes a vision of the future of wild pigs in North America.

Features:

• Compiles valuable knowledge for a broad audience including wild pig managers, researchers, adversaries, and enthusiasts from across North America
• Addresses taxonomy, morphology, genetics, physiology, spatial ecology, population dynamics, diseases and parasites, and the naturalized niche of wild pigs
• Includes chapters on damage to resources, management, research methods, human dimensions and education, and policy and legislation
• Contains full color images and case studies of interesting and informative situations being created by wild pigs throughout North America
• Includes a chapter on wild pigs at the wildland-urban interface, a more recent and especially challenging issue

Kurt VerCauteren, PhD, leads multiple research tracts for the National Wildlife Research Center of the United States Department of Agriculture/Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service/Wildlife Services (NWRC). He addresses wildlife damage issues and diseases of wildlife that impact humans, livestock, and natural resources. He has been with NWRC for over 17 years and his efforts have led to improved understanding and management of human-wildlife conflict. Species he focuses on include feral swine, deer, and elk. Diseases he conducts research on include bovine tuberculosis, chronic wasting disease, and rabies.

Kurt obtained his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska. A Certified Wildlife Biologist, he has been a member of The Wildlife Society for almost 30 years and has served as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Wildlife Management and as Chair of the Wildlife Damage Management Working Group. Kurt enjoys hunting all species of game and spending time outdoors with his family.

James Beasley, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Savannah River Ecology Lab and the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. In this role Jim currently is involved in research focused on wild pig ecology and management, carnivore ecology and management, spatial ecology and population dynamics of wildlife, wildlife health and disease ecology, and scavenging ecology. In addition to his research in the U.S., Jim is involved in numerous international or overseas research projects with recent or current projects in Belarus, Japan, Hawaii, and Guam. Jim also currently serves as the International Atomic Energy Association’s wildlife advisor to the Fukushima Prefecture Government in Japan in response to the nuclear accident that occurred there in 2011. Jim earned an A.A.S. in Pre-Professional Forestry from Paul Smith’s College, a B.S. in Wildlife Science from SUNY-Environmental Science and Forestry, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology from Purdue University where he studied the spatial ecology and population dynamics of mesopredators. His professional interests include spatial ecology and population dynamics of carnivores, management of wild pigs, human-wildlife conflicts, wildlife disease ecology, and vertebrate food habits. Over the last 10 years he has published nearly 60 peer reviewed research articles and book chapters on these topics as well as several extension products, and his research has been featured in more than 150 media outlets such as the New York Times, Animal Planet, CNN, USA Today, BBC news, and NPR. Jim currently serves as the research chair of the National Wild Pig Task Force research sub-committee, a member of the SC Wild Pig Task Force, an active member of The Wildlife Society (TWS), and is a Certified Wildlife Biologist with TWS. In his spare time Jim is an avid hunter and fisherman who enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors with his family.

Jack Mayer, PhD, received both his B.A. in biology and Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Connecticut. He is currently a research scientist and the Environmental Sciences & Biotechnology manager at the Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, South Carolina. Dr. Mayer has been conducting research on wild pigs for 43 years. Although mostly focused on morphological work, it has also included research on wild pigs in the areas of systematics, behavior, population biology, reproductive biology, damage/impacts, and management/control techniques. He is the senior author of ＂Wild Pigs in the United States.＂ Dr. Mayer’s work with wild pigs has spanned three continents and included over 20,000 specimens examined/measured. He was also one of the National Geographic Society team of scientists who were unearthed and examined the legendary, or perhaps infamous, ＂Hogzilla.＂