Feral Hogs in Arkansas

What is a feral hog?

• Feral hogs, feral swine, wild swine, wild pigs, wild hogs, Eurasian boars, Russian boars, wild boars - are all the same species, Sus scrofa.
• These are the same animals that farmers raise and what we take home from the grocery store.
• According to Arkansas law, a domestic, pen-raised hog that escapes is considered feral after 5 days, but if the owner notifies neighbors of its escape, it is considered feral after 15 days.

 Image: Skip Armes, University of Arkansas

Learn more about laws and regulations governing feral hogs

What does a feral hog look like?

• Feral hogs can be of any color found in domestic hog breeds, including pink, dark brown, spotted, black with a white collar, as well as coarse black hair with bristles along the back.
• Domestic hogs released into the wild within a few months will grow a longer, shaggier coat.
• After a couple generations, their fur becomes darker and longer with a grizzled appearance and an elongated snout with tusks, and young piglets are born with stripes.

Image: Clint Turnage, USDA APHIS Wildlife Services

Learn more about how to recognize feral hogs.

Where are feral hogs found in Arkansas?

• Feral hogs are in every county in Arkansas, though local population densities vary.
• Feral hogs have lived in the bottomlands of south central Arkansas for decades, if not centuries.
• They typically live in secluded areas in thickets near creeks, streams, and rivers, though some venture into urban areas.
• Feral hogs range over several miles if necessary in search of food and water.
• Boars range even farther in search of mates.

Find out what parts of Arkansas are infested with feral hogs.

How quickly do feral hogs multiply?

• Feral hogs are prolific breeders with females producing 3-8 or more piglets, starting at 6-10 months of age.
• Population growth patterns in Arkansas and other states since the 1990's suggests feral hogs have not dispersed naturally. Indirect evidence suggests hunters released hogs presumably to increase sport hunting opportunities.
• In Arkansas, currently it is illegal to transport, possess, sell, offer for sale, purchase, receive, import, or distribute a live feral hog.

 Image: Vladimir Dinets, University of Miami, Bugwood.org

Learn how to stop the spread of feral hogs.

How do feral hogs affect you & the environment?

• Their rooting causes loss of crops and pasture lands which affects agriculture production where our food comes from.
• Their wallowing and rooting in or near waterways causes pollution and sedimentation, which contaminates the water we drink and swim.
• They compete with native wildlife for food including acorns, roots, tubers, and soil invertebrates such as earthworms.
• Feral hogs are opportunistic feeders which means they eat eggs of ground nesting birds, salamanders, frogs, toads, snakes, and even an occasional deer fawn.

 Image: Craig Hicks, bugwood.org

Learn more about the environmental impact of feral hogs.

Learn more about Brucellosis carried by feral hogs.

Learn about additional diseases carried by feral hogs.

How do I know if I've got feral hogs?

• Typically their extensive rooting which "plows up" the soil is the first clue you've got feral hogs.  They can root up a pasture or yard overnight!
• Other signs include tracks, scat, and rub marks or tusking of trees.
• Feral hogs go nocturnal when disturbed by human activity.
• A game camera is an effective tool for determining if you have feral hogs and how many.

 Image: Becky McPeake, University of Arkansas

Learn how to recognize feral hog damage (video)

What can be done about feral hogs?

• USDA APHIS Wildlife Services and the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission recommend corral trapping groups of feral hogs using specific equipment and methods.
• Typically shooting one or two feral hogs does little for population control and only serves to educate the survivors which become more difficult to find again.
• Hunting with hog dogs may be effective for removing individual hogs which are trap-shy and difficult to capture otherwise.

Image: Jennifer Caraway, Miller County Ag Agent

Learn how to control feral hogs on your land.