Pennsylvania Opens Year-Round Wild Boar Hunting

Chris Torres
Staff Writer

Wild boars are no longer under protection in Pennsylvania, as state officials now focus on eradicating their numbers in the state.

Last week, the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) removed protections on wild boars, or feral swine, in 64 of the state’s 67 counties as concerns increase over their growing population.

The order allows hunters to shoot and kill feral swine year-round, as long as they have a hunting license.

Protections are still in place in Bedford, Butler and Cambria counties where trapping operations, considered more effective in controlling large populations, have been put into place.

Hunters in those three counties will be allowed to hunt for wild boars after their trapping seasons end.

The decision to allow the hunting of feral swine comes amidst a number of sightings and reports the commission said is indicating an increasing population.

Feral swine are not native to the state and are considered invasive because of their potentially destructive behavior in the wild.

Feral swine, also commonly referred to as wild boars, are native to Europe and Asia, where they are known for their long tusks and aggressive nature.

According to a 2006 game commission report, wild boars were first sighted in Somerset County in 1993 and have been sighted in a total of 15 counties throughout the state since. Most sightings have occurred in the southcentral and southwestern portions of the state.

The report states there has been evidence of reproduction in at least three counties where shooting preserves offering wild boar hunts are located, indicating the animals may have originally come from these preserves.

There has also been reports of harvested wild boar with tags indicating their origination from preserves in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada.

The report states the animals are known to go after acorns and shrubs, thus decreasing the amount of food available to native animals such as deer and turkey.

They are also considered to be potentially aggressive if approached in the wild. The report pointed to one case in Perry County, where a woman was reportedly chased by a pack of wild boars while she was riding in a golf cart.

Mark O’Neill, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, said wild pigs present challenges to farmers because of their tendency to go after crops and their potential to spread disease to other animals including the deadly swine brucellosis and pseudo-rabies.

“They are destructive when they get on farms. They can cause a lot of damage in a short period of time,” O’Neill said.

He pointed out that a number of farmers have complained of damage done by wild boar, including some that have reported entire patches of cropland destroyed by suspected wild pigs. The Farm Bureau has expressed its support over the decision to allow feral swine to be hunted.

“We’ve had a number of reports in various areas and it’s been on our radar for a number of years,” he said. “It’s a real way to try to deal with this problem.”