Daily Egyptian Politics Editor

Southern Illinois has always been a sportsman’s paradise; forests are teeming with squirrels and deer and lakes are brimming with fish and waterfowl. But another wild animal unexpectedly has made an appearance in some Southern Illinois counties for at least four years, leaving a pattern of ruined crops and eroded woodlands.

The furry culprits are European wild boars, popular game animals in the southeastern states. They have been sighted in Jackson Pope, Gallatin, Hardin, Massac and Johnson counties by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

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The population of these wild pigs is unknown, he said, but hunters and farmers killed 15 during the past three years.

Unlike the DNR’s proposed elk release, the wild hogs were released illegally in Southern Illinois.

We don’t know who released the animals for certain, but we suspect people from outside the state may have tried to start a population of boars here, said Mike Murphy, a district wildlife biologist for the DNR.

It is possible that an organized group of hog-hunting enthusiasts responsible for the release may exist.

We think that this group is making efforts to get as many hogs started in as many states as they can, he said.

Southern Illinois is not the only state with illegally released wild hogs. The southern portion of Indiana, for example, has a population of about 200.

Wild swine are detrimental to the Southern Illinois environment, Murphy said.

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They root around and destroy woodlands, he said. Typically they tear up all kinds of terrain when they are foraging.

Ken Gerdes, county executive director for the Farm Service Agency in Johnson, Pope and Massac counties, also said the hogs do not belong in the state.

Hogs can make it on acorns and other nuts and roots, he said, but in the process they cause erosion problems, and they are something that may not co-exist well with native species.

The DNR is particularly concerned about sightings in Union and Jackson counties.

There is the possibility that some of them may be creeping in to the [Crab Orchard Wildlife] Refuge, Murphy said.

The boars also destroy crops in their search for food.

Murphy said several farmers have seen boars in the field while picking corn and have shot the animals. Some hunters also have bagged hogs while hunting other animals, Murphy said.

Joe Crabb, who owns a farm near Dixon Springs in Pope County, said that during the Illinois shotgun deer season, a hunter on his property shot a hog as it ran past. The sow weighed a whopping 350 pounds and was 5 feet 8 inches long.

This was not the first appearance of wild boars on Crabb’s land. He first saw and later killed a 93-pound hog in April 1994.

It had been doing pretty well on corn, beans and acorns, Crabb said. It was large enough that it could take your entire leg in its mouth.

European wild boars are not native to Illinois or any other state. They were introduced to the United States in 1912 on a North Carolina game preserve and soon escaped.

The wild boars mated with domestic hog stock, producing a hybrid that spread through the Southeast. Though they are hybrids, they nearly always retain the appearance of the original European species.

Normally, the animals are 3 1/2 to 5 feet long, have a shoulder height of 2 to 3 feet and weigh up to 300 pounds They are black or dark gray and have prominent upper tusks.

Adult wild boars can travel up to 15 miles per day. It is possible for a pair to have two litters during a year.

When harvested, the wild pigs can be prepared like domestic pork. Like domestic pork, the wild meat must be thoroughly heated as prevention against trichinosis. Trichinosis is a parasitic infection of tiny trichnia worms that can be present in pork.

Although the hogs pose a threat to the Southern Illinois environment, Murphy said the DNR has not reached a decision about how the problem should be treated.

Since they are a non-native species, there is no legislation preventing the shooting of the animals. However, hunters should not go hog wild over the prospect of actively hunting the animals.

We don’t want to encourage hunters to go seek out the hogs, and we don’t want to encourage any trespassing by hunters pursuing hogs, he said.

Boars often are hunted like raccoons, with dogs trailing the animals over long distances.

In addition, at least one species of domestic swine may resemble the European wild boar. The possibility exists that someone attempting to hunt the rogue animals could shoot a domestic pig.

Murphy said the DNR likely will release their position on how to tackle the hog problem in February, but said the boars clearly will cause further damage if they are not eradicated.

Right now they are a nuisance and we are operating on that basis, he said.