SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Missouri conservation officials say they are making progress eliminating feral hogs from the state.
Officials want to get rid of them because they can damage areas such as farmland, fragile glades and more by rooting for food.
The Springfield News-Leader reports that the Missouri Feral Hog Elimination Partnership killed 9,857 feral hogs in 2021, bringing the total number of hogs killed since 2016 to more than 54,000.
Jason Jensen, incident Commander of Feral Hog Operations for Missouri Department of Conservation, said those numbers are slightly down from previous years. But he sees that as a sign of success.
"When you more than doubled your effort, but only found fewer hogs that certainly would indicate that feral hog populations are not increasing, but they're decreasing," he said.
In 2021, the partnership assisted 1,308 landowners and scouted more than 3 million acres for feral hog damage. The top counties where feral hogs were killed include Iron County with 1,940 hogs, Wayne County with 1,329 hogs and Reynolds with 1,268 hogs.
Feral hogs are an invasive species that were reportedly released in Missouri in the mid-to-late 90s by private individuals, Jansen said.
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