"Pig Bomb" - TV show about feral swine - on Discovery channel

[AlaskaDenise]

This is a program about feral swine, showing the problems created by an increasing swine population. Since their natural predators have decreased, their numbers have increased to the point where there are more human interactions and environmental damage.

Watching the cases of human interaction right on home sites, the potential to spread and further mix influenza genes in this population should be of concern.

It's also humorous.

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[Emily]

Re: "Pig Bomb" - TV show about feral swine - on Discovery channel

I wondered about them being involved in the new flu, but they seem to do some surveillance. How comprehensive that can be, I don't know. This article call them the 'poor man's grizzly.'

The article also gives the impression that Texas was giving up on controlling them, but I think I saw an article right before the swine flu outbreak that said that Texas was considering allowing private aerial 'hunting' (culling) of the feral pigs because government efforts were failing. This was controversial because residents feared being shot, or having their pets or livestock shot by gunmen in flying around in choppers and planes. Last I checked, they hadn't allowed it. Even ground hunters were disturbed about calling culling, 'hunting.' (And they would also be in danger of being shot.)

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/ecology/us-pig-population-an-ecological-disaster/538
U.S. Pig Population an Ecological Disaster

Fri, Nov 23, 2007
"The problem is so bad in some places that there are actually federal teams of hog hunters armed with machine guns. Private trappers and hunters serve a growing market of private landowners affected by the pigs."