An invasion of wild beasts is wreaking havoc across America - and shocking figures reveal they are killing more people than sharks.
Officials up and down the country are warning of a 'feral swine bomb' due to an explosion in the population of wild hogs, theSouth Florida Sun Sentinel reported.
Wild hogs, an invasive species of pig first brought to Florida by Spanish settlers in the 1500s, have now been seen in at least 35 states and are destroying farmers' crops, tearing up gardens and, in some cases, even attacking humans.
One longtime animal trapper, Craig Greene, recalled a terrifying encounter with the wild pigs in 2008. He described hiding in his own three-feet tall cage, knowing there was no one nearby to save him, until they eventually ran off and he could escape.
'I know when they kill you, they'll eat you while you're screaming,' he said. 'I'd rather get eaten by an alligator.'
Feral hogs graze along a hiking trail in the Richland Creek wildlife management area in Texas
Wild pig attacks are relatively rare - but they still outnumber all species of shark attacks combined, research showed.
Between 2014 and 2023, there was an average of 5.8 fatal shark attacks worldwide compared to 19.7 wild pig attacks, AgWeb reported.
In 2024 alone, there have already been seven deaths globally from wild pig incidents, the outlet added - and revealed the number of humans killed had climbed steadily from 2000 to 2019 to a total of 172 deaths.
Dr. John Mayer, a research scientist and manager at 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 wild pigs are certainly worse than bears, wolves, and all shark species put together.
'Wild pigs are nowhere near the worst of the worst, but they’re far more dangerous than people believe,' he added, describing the vicious 'stab-and-slash' wounds inflicted by boars.
In 2019 a Texas caregiver, 59, was mauled to death by a pack of wild hogs while outside the home of the elderly couple she looks after, before being partially eaten.
And the potential for dangerous encounters between pigs and humans is set to increase as the land animals used to have free reign on is developed.
Pigs now exist in all 67 Florida counties and wreak the most havoc in inland areas in the middle of the state.
'They've been here for 200 years and now everywhere they go they're getting pushed out,' Greene told Sun Sentinel. 'They're doing so much major construction. So now pigs are showing up in people's yards because the gated development is butted right up against a preserve.'
Greene added that people frequently call him to help them deal with rowdy pigs.
'I've had phone calls like, "Oh my God, I'm in my car right now, this pig is slamming his head up against my truck,''' Greene said. '''Come help me.'''
Many Americans are also concerned about the danger the hogs pose to agriculture.
Pigs roll around in the dirt on farms to cool themselves off and often root around for food and eat crops, causing billions of dollars worth of losses to farmers every year.
In 1982, feral swine populations were localized mostly to Florida, Texas and parts of California
But by 2023, feral swines have fully colonized the southern US, along with California
Wild hogs also have the potential to doom the US pork industry, whichsupports more than 600,000 American jobs and generates $178 billion in sales on a yearly basis, according to theNational Pork Producers Council.
The animals in Asia have been spreading a fatal disease for pigs called the African Swine Fever. After it was first reported in northeastern China in August 2018, it caused the death of over one million pigs, according to Reuters.
Experts warn that if this disease crossed the ocean to the US, it would have devastating effect.
'It's the ultimate kiss of death for pigs,' Dr. John Mayer told Sun Sentinel.
'If it ever got into this country the way it spread through Eurasia, it would be the death knell of U.S. pork industry. You wouldn't be able to buy bacon anymore.'
In Flagler County, which is just above Daytona Beach, wild pigs became so widespread earlier in 2024 that officials created a feral hog dashboardto keep citizens up to date on sightings.
In recent weeks there have been potentially dozens of wild hogs spotted in the county, according to its data.
'This quality of life has been severely dampened by the chronic anxiety, fear, anger and exasperation felt by our residents,' Nancy Crouch, a resident of the Grand Haven development 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 near a Mertzon, Texas ranch on February 18, 2009
States like Florida and Texas have long borne the brunt of the feral hog problem and struggled to manage it as the situation spirals out of control.
In the meantime it falls to citizen 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 videolast summer of him flying over a dozen hogs in Texas with the caption: 'Got Pork? Helicopter Hog roundup.'
In Mississippi, legislators 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 requires no license to hunt them, nor is there an off-season.
Indeed, killing your first wild pig is now almost considered a rite of passage for young hunters in the area because they are so plentiful, the Sun Sentinel reported.
However, one streamer 'Tfue' recently drew heavy criticism after filming himself shooting a squealing pig in Florida and posting it on social media.
Tfue laterdefended himself on Xbypointing out a list of problems that hogs cause - including disrupting crops, preying on native wildlife and their potential to spread deadly disease to wildlife and domestic animals.
In the video posted by Aaron Hoot, the helicopter's silhouette is seen as it flies over over a dozen wild hogs running through a dirt patch
Streamer 'Tfue' posted a picture of himself holding a gun on X, alerting his fans that he was about to livestream himself hunting wild boars
A hunter on a HeliBacon helicopter hog hunting tour near Bryan, Texas, on October 6, 2023
Still, some hunters in Florida worry about overhunting the boar population.
Bishop Wright Jr., a longtime hunter based in West Palm Beach, told Sun Sentinel that killing pigs en masse could upset the food chain in South Florida's Everglades.
He wants wildlife officials devise a plan to redistribute hogs in a way that wouldn't necessitate killing them all.
But when wild hogs are estimated to cause $1.5 billion in economic damages per year, according to the US Department of Agriculture, many are of the belief that drastic measures need to be taken to stem the destruction to farms and crops.
'Unfortunately the only solution we have right now is lethal removal,' Mayer told the Sun Sentinel.
In Florida especially, wild hogs have become a bigger part of people's diet.
Greene said he has clients in Miami who buy pigs from him - sometimes 50 at a time - to feast on at Christmas or Thanksgiving.
'There are a lot more wild boar dishes in restaurants now,' said Mayer. 'But we’re not gonna barbecue our way out of this.'
