Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed two bills Monday targeting the state’s ever growing feral hog problem.
The first, widely known as the “Judas pig tracking system,” allows individuals to outfit trapped feral hogs with a radio tracking collar before releasing it back into the wild. The idea behind this is that the collared animal would return to its herd, whereupon the collar would give away his position to hunters who could then swarm in and take out the herd, or part of it at least.
The second bill prohibits the importation of live feral swine into the state unless they are being delivered to a processing plant via a sealed trailer.
These two measures are just the latest example in the US’s growing war on this invasive species that costs the country billions of dollars each year in agricultural and ecological losses. Other measures recently passed include allowing hog hunting at night, from helicopters, and with the aid of suppressors.
While I wish Oklahoma the best in their pig battle I’m not sure that these added measures will have much of an impact. My home state of Texas has been at war with feral swine for more than three centuries and the latest estimates put the number of ferals in the Lone Star State at around 2 million. Still, you can’t win if you don’t try.
Here piggy, piggy.
Will these measures put a sizeable dent in the population? Comment below!