Wild Pigs Tormenting Residents, Destroying Wildlife in New Zealand's Capital Due to an Upsurge in Their Population

Wild pigs are running amok in Wellington City, New Zealand's capital, tormenting residents and disrupting local wildlife. Naomi Steenkamp, a co-owner of a goat milk farm in Brooklyn less than 2 miles away from the capital, said in an interview that it is like a murder scene, wherein they lost 60 goats in the last month alone.

The increase in the population of wild pigs in the capital city meant that they are entering suburban gardens and killing as many young goats and scaring dogs.

Wild Pigs Invading Wellington City

Brooklyn residents said that wild pigs have invaded popular walking tracks and their backyards. Steenkamp added that some wild pigs are on her property behind the Brooklyn wind turbine and have eaten her kid goats alive

Last month, her husband has shot and killed a 260-pound porker that went through their fence. Even some of her neighbors had to deal with the same problem.

Wellington City Council spokesperson Richard Maclean confirmed the current upsurge in the population of wild pigs in the city, the New York Post reported. These animals originally descended from pigs brought over on colonial ships back in the 18th century and have now established their population in one-third of the island nation.

Moreover, these feral animals have been disrupting the efforts of the council to regenerate the bush around Brooklyn and revitalized the local bird population, such as the kiwi.

Maclean explained that, although the city contracts a hunter to cull these pigs in the area every year, they cannot go to private land without permission from the owner. He noted that this, somehow, is a challenge in controlling the wild pigs.

He also warned against residents taking the issue into their own hands. People should avoid total mayhem and conflict to keep everyone safe.

But it is not only New Zealand that faces problems with wild pigs. The Post previously reported a woman being attacked by a boar while on a Spanish beach. The woman ended up needing medical attention, but it is unclear what happened to the animal after the attack.

Is Wild Pig an Invasive Species?

Wild pigs are sometimes called wild boar, feral swine, and wild hogs. But no matter what their name is, this species is dangerous, destructive, and invasive, as per the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the US Department of Agriculture.

The geographic range of this invasive species is rapidly expanding due to its increasing population as evident in the chaos they are causing in New Zealand's capital.

According to an article in Stuff, it is estimated that wild pigs destroy more than NZ$106 million worth of crops and pasture each year in Australia and NZ$389 million in 12 states in the US.

Experts also found that they threaten 672 vertebrates and plant species in 54 different countries, such as imperiled ground frogs, tree frogs, and orchid species in Australia.

Due to their expanding population, experts are worried that their extended geographic range in the coming decades will threaten food security and worsen biodiversity, as well as increase their carbon footprint.

Check out more news and information on Invasive Species in Science Times.