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Evaluation of fences for containing feral swine under simulated depopulation conditions
Author(s) -
Lavelle Michael J.,
Vercauteren Kurt C.,
Hefley Trevor J.,
Phillips Gregory E.,
Hygnstrom Scott E.,
Long David B.,
Fischer Justin W.,
Swafford Seth R.,
Campbell Tyler A.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the journal of wildlife management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1937-2817
pISSN - 0022-541X
DOI - 10.1002/jwmg.134
Subject(s) - geography , environmental science , fishery , biology
Populations of feral swine ( Sus scrofa ) are estimated to include >2 million animals in the state of Texas, USA, alone. Feral swine damage to property, crops, and livestock exceeds $50 million annually. These figures do not include the increased risks and costs associated with the potential for feral swine to spread disease to domestic livestock. Thus, effective bio‐security measures will be needed to quickly isolate affected feral swine populations during disease outbreaks. We evaluated enclosures built of 0.86‐m‐tall traditional hog panels for containing feral swine during 35 trials, each involving 6 recently caught animals exposed to increasing levels of motivation. During trials, fences were 97% successful when enclosures were entered by humans for maintenance purposes; 83% effective when pursued by walking humans discharging paintball projectors; and in limited testing, 100% successful when pursued and removed by gunners in a helicopter. In addition to being effective in containing feral swine, enclosures constructed of hog panels required simple hand tools, took <5 min/m to erect, and were inexpensive ($5.73/m excluding labor) relative to other fencing options. As such, hog‐panel fences are suitable for use by state and federal agencies for rapid deployment in disease response situations, but also exhibit utility for general control of other types of damage associated with feral swine. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.