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There's a conflict of interest in the hog hunting-tourism industry. Companies profit from the existence of the hogs, because they are legal to hunt year-round i
by robgibbons 3y ago
There's a conflict of interest in the hog hunting-tourism industry. Companies profit from the existence of the hogs, because they are legal to hunt year-round in Texas, with no permit and no bag limit. People have deliberately captured and transported the hogs to neighboring states with the hopes of propagating the problem and the profits that follow.
Of course, hunting hogs with a rifle makes people feel like they're helping. But shooting at these hogs, even if you bag a few, actually diffuses a herd across wide areas. It breaks up what was previously a single, easily trackable group. The young hogs reproduce like crazy and soon you've got two or three as many hogs.
Other states have banned the practice of hunting for this reason, instead favoring the capture of the hogs. It seems to me that as long as it's profitable to hunt and spread these hogs, there will be an increasingly large hog problem in the US.
- causality0 3y agoactually diffuses a herd across wide areas. It breaks up what was previously a single, easily trackable group. The young hogs reproduce like crazy and soon you've got two or three as many hogs. If separating results in three times as much reproductive success why do these animals group up in the first place?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- dghlsakjg 3y agoThese are feral animals, meaning their genetic stock comes from selective breeding. Their behavioral traits aren’t necessarily born of evolution.
- galangalalgol 3y agoThis is just a guess, but forming up into sounders (group name) probably was good vs predators that existed in Europe long ago, but don't exist now in the southern US. There are a few mountain lions but not enough anymore to impact the population and coyotes might take an abandoned young but even one adult would probably scare them off I think? Farmers that really want rid of them use big net/cage traps that catch a whole sounder at once, because escapees learn to spot the traps and spread the knowledge apparently. Not sure what they do with the meat.
- wrycoder 3y agoOverhunting causes a population explosion? Overfishing causes abundance? Interesting theory.
- gooseyman 3y agoModern day cobra effect https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive
- CAHogHunter 3y agoReally? Hunting pressure causes a population causes a population surge? Brilliant thesis.
- HlessClaudesman 3y agoI refuse to believe that unarguably both the most gun loving and bacon loving nation on the planet can't come up with a solution to this.
- etrautmann 3y agoApparently the meat is generally not favorable
- robgibbons 3y agoIf you love both, why would you want to eradicate the problem?
- bilsbie 3y agoThis sounds anti hunting and even anti abundance.