How wild beast invasion is tearing up America – and killing more people than sharks: ‘I’d rather get eaten by an alligator’

A wildlife invasion is wreaking havoc across America – and shocking figures show it’s killing more people than sharks.

Officials across the country are warning of a ‘wild boar bomb’ due to an explosion in the wild boar population, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.

Feral hogs, an invasive species of pig first brought to Florida by Spanish settlers in the 16th century, have now been sighted in at least 35 states, destroying farmers’ crops, tearing up gardens and in some cases even attacking people.

Craig Greene, a longtime animal hunter, recalled a terrifying encounter with the wild boars in 2008. He described how he hid in his own four-foot cage, knowing there was no one around to save him, until they eventually ran away and he was able to escape. .

“I know if they kill you, they will eat you while you scream,” he said. “I’d rather be eaten by an alligator.”

Attacks by feral pigs are relatively rare, but there are still more attacks than all types of shark attacks combined, research shows.

Between 2014 and 2023, there was an average of 5.8 fatal shark attacks worldwide, compared to 19.7 attacks by feral pigs. AgWeb reports this.

There have been seven deaths worldwide from feral pig incidents in 2024 alone, the paper added – revealing that the number of people killed had risen steadily between 2000 and 2019 to a total of 172 deaths.

Dr. John Mayer, researcher and manager of the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina, told AgWeb: ‘Tigers, Indian elephants, Nile crocodiles and venomous snakes kill more people than wild pigs, but feral pigs are certainly worse than bears. , wolves and all shark species together.

“Feral pigs are far from the worst of the worst, but they are much more dangerous than people think,” he added, describing the brutal “stab-and-slash” wounds inflicted by boars.

In 2019, a Texas caregiver, 59, was mauled to death by a pack of wild boars while outside the home of the elderly couple she cares for, before being partially eaten.

And the likelihood of dangerous encounters between pigs and humans will increase as land animals that used to have free rein evolve.

Pigs now occur in all 67 Florida counties and cause the most damage inland in the center of the state.

“They’ve been here for 200 years and now they’re being driven out everywhere they go,” Greene told the Sun Sentinel. “They do so much major construction. So now pigs are showing up in people’s gardens because the fenced area is right next to a reserve.’

Greene added that people regularly call him to help them deal with noisy pigs.

“I’ve had calls like, ‘Oh my God, I’m sitting in my car right now, this pig is hitting his head on my truck,'” Greene said. “Come help me.”

Many Americans are also concerned about the danger the pigs pose to agriculture.

Pigs roll around in the mud on farms to cool themselves and often forage for food and eat crops, causing farmers billions of dollars in losses every year.

In 1982, feral pig populations were primarily located in Florida, Texas, and parts of California

But by 2023, wild boars will have completely colonized the southern US, along with California

Wild hogs also have the potential to destroy the U.S. pork industry, which supports more than 600,000 American jobs and generates $178 billion in annual sales, the report said. National Pork Producers Council.

The animals in Asia spread a deadly disease for pigs, African swine fever. After it was first reported in northeastern China in August 2018, the disease caused the deaths of more than a million pigs. Reuters.

Experts warn that if this disease were to cross the ocean to the US, it would have a devastating effect.

“It’s the ultimate death blow for pigs,” Dr. John Mayer to Sun Sentinel.

“If it ever entered this country the way it spread through Eurasia, it would be the death knell for the U.S. pork industry. You wouldn’t be able to buy bacon anymore.’

In Flagler County, just above Daytona Beach, feral pigs became so widespread earlier in 2024 that officials a dashboard of a wild pig to keep citizens informed of sightings.

According to the data, dozens of wild boars may have been spotted in the province in recent weeks.

“This quality of life has been severely dampened by the chronic fear, anger and annoyance our residents feel,” Nancy Crouch, a resident of the Grand Haven Project in Flagler County, said during a county workshop.

David Schmidt and Junior Coursey load a pig into the transport trailer as part of the Harris County feral hog trapping program at Barker-Addicks Reservoir on September 18, 2014 in Houston

Feral pigs roam around a farm in Mertzon, Texas on February 18, 2009

States like Florida and Texas have long been hit hard by the feral hog problem and struggled to get it under control as the situation spiraled out of control.

In the meantime, it’s up to civilian hunters to thin out populations.

In Texas, people can sign up to shoot the pigs with automatic rifles from moving helicopters.

A TikTok user named Aaron Hoot posted a video last summer he flew over a dozen pigs in Texas with the caption: “Got Pork? Helicopter Hog Roundup.”

In Mississippi, lawmakers have gone a step further by proposing a bill this year that would allow people to use drones to hunt hogs.

In Florida, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission does not require a permit to hunt them, nor is there an off-season.

Killing your first wild pig is now almost considered a rite of passage for young hunters in the area because they are so numerous, the Sun Sentinel reported.

However, a streamer ‘Tfue’ recently came under heavy criticism after filming himself shooting a squealing pig in Florida and posting it on social media.

Tfue later defended himself on X Through pointing to a list of problems pigs cause – including disrupting crops, preying on native wildlife and their potential to spread deadly diseases to wild animals and domestic animals.

In Aaron Hoot’s video, the helicopter’s silhouette is seen flying over more than a dozen wild boars running through a patch of dirt

Streamer ‘Tfue’ posted a photo of himself holding a gun to X and warned his fans that he was about to live stream himself hunting wild boars

A hunter on a HeliBacon helicopter hunt for hogs near Bryan, Texas, on October 6, 2023

Still, some hunters in Florida are concerned about the overhunting of the hog population.

Bishop Wright Jr., a longtime hunter based in West Palm Beach, told Sun Sentinel that mass killings of hogs could disrupt the food chain in South Florida’s Everglades.

He wants conservationists to come up with a plan to redistribute the pigs in a way that doesn’t require killing them all.

But when wild hogs cause an estimated $1.5 billion in economic damage per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, many believe drastic measures must be taken to prevent the destruction of farms and crops.

“Unfortunately, the only solution we have now is lethal removal,” Mayer told the Sun Sentinel.

Especially in Florida, wild hogs have become a bigger part of people’s diets.

Greene said he has customers in Miami who buy pigs from him — sometimes as many as 50 at a time — to enjoy at Christmas or Thanksgiving.

“There are a lot more wild boar dishes in restaurants these days,” says Mayer. “But we’re not having a barbecue here.”