FARGO (KFGO) – North Dakota wildlife officials are keeping watch as the number of feral swine is exploding near the U.S.-Canada border.
According to the University of Saskatchewan, the invasive hogs are only a few miles from Montana and spreading rapidly. North Dakota Wildlife Division Chief Jeb Williams says for years, the state has worked with the federal government to keep the animals out of North Dakota.
“We’re always vigilant as far as the feral swine issue goes. We have a plan that has been in place for a number of years” according to Williams. “We have a partnership with USDA Wildlife Services and the North Dakota Board of Animal Health.”
Williams says there’s never been a “significant number” of feral hogs in North Dakota, but he says they’ve had to be removed from time to time over the past 15-20 years. Most of them have been found in the Badlands, or along the northern tier of state.
“Do whatever it takes, because once you get them established, they are very destructive to native landscapes, very destructive to farmland, crops, grasslands, anything like that.”
The study says feral swine have expanded from 17 to 38 states over the past 30 years.
Williams says in North Dakota, landowners are permitted to kill feral hogs if they cause property damage, but the general public is not allowed to kill them.
