70 million years of evolution. Thousands of plant and animal species found nowhere else in the world. Introduced pigs, goats, deer and sheep roaming freely over public lands. More than 265 extinctions and counting.

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HOW CAN INTRODUCED GAME ANIMALS BE CONTROLLED?

Officially recognize the problem

Make a master plan for game mammal management and control.

Prioritize fencing and control to protect high-value areas.

Over time convert fencing to provide barriers around the appropriate game management areas (GMAs) so game animals will eventually be limited to the GMAs.

Begin stepwise implementation as rapidly as possible, to reduce costs and preserve maximum natural resources.

Nobody wants to hurt animals, but overpopulations of introduced game animals are hurting us. They are recognized around the world as pest animals that cost billions annually in lost crops and environmental damage. How can meaningful game animal control be achieved?

Maps of feral pig advancement across the mainland. Look at 1982, then 1988, then 2004.

In Australia, feral pigs have been officially recognized as "a key threat to native Australian wildlife." When Hawai`i finally wakes up and does the same thing, land managers can benefit from research already underway through Australia's National Feral Animal Control Program.

• Trapping is a useful tool, especially in populated areas.
• Fencing is expensive but effective. Control without fences is virtually impossible except with complete eradication.
• Regarding hunting, shooting from helicopters can be effective in inaccessible areas, but "ground shooting is not effective in reducing the pig population unless intense shooting is undertaken on a small isolated and accessible population of pigs."
• Poisoning is the most effective method, one that can economically and effectively reduce feral pig populations. Research on appropriate baits has taken into account humaneness, cost, and avoiding non-target animals. (Research to improve poison baits even further is ongoing. Toxicants presently in use in Australia include sodium fluoroacetate or 1080 and various phosphorous-based chemicals. Sodium fluoroacetate is recommended; phosphorous-based baits are not, because they are "unnecessarily inhumane, less effective, and can result in secondary poisoning of non-target species." A new pig toxicant called an "Achilles heel" is in the patent process. This toxicant is said to be very humane.)

Poisoning of animals is a sensitive issue in the United States, but as feral pigs spread across the mainland, more states are looking at this option. If the will to control the animals is there, other methods may do the job. Still, it is important to be aware of all options, particularly for areas where hunters can't go and the meat would never be harvested. Toxicants in aerially distributed baits are many times more cost effective than other control methods.

• Documents available from Australia's government (links are above) break feral pig control down into four steps:

• Defining the problem
• Management plan
• Implementation
• Monitoring and evaluation

Feral Pig Control in the Wet Tropics Queensland Government publication. 2004. (If difficult to read, select pdf version at top of page once it opens in your browser.)

Researchers Develop New Feral Pig Bait. 2005.

In Hawai'i, these steps presently break down like this:

• Defining the problem. In Hawai`i this has been done by numerous studies.
• Management plan. In Hawai`i there is no real management plan for control of feral pigs, goats, sheep, and deer on State land. Federal lands such as the national parks however, do have management plans in place, as do some small portions of land in the State's Natural Area Reserve System.
• Implementation. In places such as the national parks that do have a true control plan, feral animal control has been effective. However, when a plan caters to special interests instead of proven methods, it is not effective, as demonstrated by the failure of hunting to eliminate pigs in Halakau Refuge (reported in Environment Hawaii), an important bird sanctuary.
• Monitoring and evaluation. In the few places in Hawaii that have eliminated feral pigs, monitoring has shown that native species begin to recover and thrive. The longer the pigs are in the area, however, the lower the quality or "pristineness" the land can achieve. Once pigs help alien plant species to gain a footing in native areas, the introduced plants may be more difficult to get rid of than the pigs.

Time is of the essence. Ask the governor, your legislative representatives and the State's land managers to begin an effective program of feral animal control. Contact information can be accessed through the Speak Out button at top right. The longer we wait, the less we can save.

Here are a few links to information and news articles about feral animal control in Hawai`i and elsewhere (last updated August 2006).

Winning the War Against Island Invaders

Feral Goat Eradication on Islands

Wildlife fertility control not yet available. 2006. The Wildlife Society

Conservation action in the Galapagos: feral pig (Sus scrofa) eradication from Santiago Island "Given limited conservation funds, we can no longer afford to spend decades removing introduced mammals from islands."

Control Techniques for Feral Hogs. 1997. Texas A&M University.

Sierra Club: Feral Pigs in Hawaii Policy. Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter. 1987.

Closing in on Feral Pigs: Development of a bait that only pigs find attractive. 2004.