The Population Ecology of Feral Hogs in Texas.
Michael Jones.
Feral hogs (Sus scrofa) are an invasive species of swine that was brought to
America when settlers from the “old world’ brought them as a food source and was believed to
be introduced to Texas over 300 years ago. Since their arrival, feral hogs have thrived in Texas
with their numbers and home territory ever expanding to encompass a large percentage of the
state. Feral hogs are known to destroy the land, vegetation, and water supply of almost any area
the group occupies. The explosion of their population in a relatively short amount of time is
something that scientist have studied since their impact on native species was first noticed. The
feral hog has many adaptations that help the population to continue to grow, expand, and affect
entire ecosystems which include; their reproductive cycle, ability to live in many different
environments, the food that they will readily eat, and the diseases and parasites. The ecology
population of feral hogs is continuing to change and along with it the entire ecology of
everywhere they are found.
The feral hog was introduced to Texas in the 1680’s by explorers throughout the region,
and were used for food so that colonies could be set up by the explorers to settle Texas. These
hogs were often allowed to roam freely by the settlers and often some would roam far enough
away from the colonies to escape recapture. The explorer LaSalle famously landed Matagorda
Bay in 1685 and built a fort inland from there for hundreds of colonist and other people. He
brought animals including 70-75 swine which he reported multiplied and prospered (Taylor
1993, 1). The colony faced trouble and ended up being abandoned leading the hogs to be able to
escape into the Texas plains and expanded from this area. The offspring of these hogs and other
hogs brought by explorers are not the only type of hogs that are included in the term feral hogs.
The European wild boar on the other hand, was not as well documented in its movements in and
out of the states. Between the year 1930 and 1933, the first importations of the European boars
was recorded by the San Antonio zoo where 11 of the animals were obtained, these animals did
end up in the wild through escaping or being released (Taylor 1993, 1).
Feral hogs are a very varied species of hogs that come in a number of different forms and
