Law Adds Wild Hogs to Population Program

In last night's paper was an article that the law will add wild hogs to the population program.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed a bill officials hope will help control wild hogs throughout the state.

Beginning July 1, a Beaver and Wild Hog Control Advisory Board will come up with a program to control or eradicate beavers and wild hogs.  The program will be administered by the Mississippi Department of Agriculture.

Ed Penney, director of the Wildlife Bureau for the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, said the most recent evaluations indicate that 38 percent of the state is occupied by wild hogs.  That's about 11.7 million acres of affected habitat.

In 2012, officials at the Vicksburg National Military Park reported wild hogs destroying park landscapes.

"While wild hogs have existed in many areas of the country and Mississippi for decades, the greatest factor influencing their rapid expansion across the country has come from transportation and release into the wild by wild hog sport hunting enthusiasts," he said.

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