Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/13
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Events. 1) Wild Pig Damage Presentation at National Invasive Species Awareness Week. In January of 2010, a group of wildlife professionals from Mississippi State University (Ben West, Jessica Tegt, and Bill Hamrick) and colleague from Texas A&M University (Billy Higginbotham) traveled to Washington D.C. and delivered a wild pig presentation at the National Invasive Species Awareness Week Conference. 2) The 2010 International Wild Pig Conference. In a cooperative effort with The Berryman Institute, Bill Hamrick served as a co-organizer of the 2010 International Wild Pig Conference in Pensacola, FL (April 11-13). 3) Workshop for landowners and natural resource professionals - Wild Pig Management, Columbia, SC, 17-18 Aug 2010, 179 attendees. 4) Workshop for SE State Agency Personnel - Managing the Wild Pig Problem, Biloxi, MS, 17 Oct 2010, 11 attendees. 5) Workshop for landowners and natural resource professionals - Managing Wild Hog Damage, Ardmore, OK, 29 Mar 2011, 339 attendees. 6) Workshop for Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency Personnel - Wild Pig Management, Paris, TN, 27-28 Sep 2011, 125 attendees. 7) Workshop for Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Agency Personnel - Wild Pig Management, Starkville, MS, 24 Oct 2011, 42 attendees. 8) Workshop for Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Agency Personnel - Wild Pig Management, Hattiesburg, MS, 27 Oct 2011, 36 attendees. 9) Workshop for landowners and natural resource professionals - Feral Hog Issues and Control Techniques, Monticello, AR, 17 May 2011, 70 attendees. 10) Presentation to the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies - The Problem with Pigs, 11 Sep 2011, 30 attendees (the attendees were all state fish & wildlife agency directors). 11) Symposium regarding the history, impacts, and management of wild pigs at the 19th Annual Conference of The Wildlife Society on November 5-10, 2012 in Waikoloa, Hawaii. The symposium was attended by approximately 120 wildlife professionals from multiple countries. 12) Final report of project results was presented at the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals Conference (ANREP) on 21 May 2012. Products. 1) Website on Wild Pig Information (www.wildpiginfo.com). Since launch of the website in March 2011 over 21,000 people have viewed the content. 2) Video/DVD - A Pickup Load of Pigs: The Feral Swine Pandemic. This video is available on YouTube as well as DVD. The YouTube video has had over 89,000 views since 14 Jan 2011. 3)Wild Pig Mobile Education Unit. This mobile unit, which contains examples of various trap designs, trap doors, triggers, etc., is taken to all wild pig management workshops, seminars and educational events. Since 19 April 2010, the mobile unit has traveled over 6,000 miles and been used at 21 MSU Extension events in 4 states (Arkansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee). The number of people at trainings, workshops, and college coursework activities in which the mobile unit has been used is 1,262. PARTICIPANTS: Bronson Strickland, Ben West, and Bill Hamrick were the principal investigators on this project. Bronson Strickland and Bill Hamrick both work for the Extension Service at Mississippi State University, and during the project, Ben West transitioned from the Extension Service at Mississippi State University to the University of Tennessee. All the principal investigators worked collaboratively on workshops, seminars, publication development, video development and website development. Partner Organizations included The Forest and Wildlife Research Center and Mississippi State University, USDA Wildlife Services, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Clemson University Extension Service, Oklahoma State University Extension Service, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, University of Arkansas Extension Service, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences included individuals, agencies or organizations related to natural resource management or management of agricultural resources. Our programming was designed to provide information on the dangers and management of wild pig populations to audiences ranging from the concerned citizen or landowner to policy makers. We believe our multi-tiered approach accomplished this by providing a mode of communication for all these groups. We delivered information in the form of workshops to landowners and field personnel and we provided seminars to administrators from state wildlife agencies, agricultural commissioners, and NGO's. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Our only modifications to the original proposal were presentations/sessions at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference and the State Agricultural Commissioners Conference. Although effort was made on our part to deliver a presentation or special session at these conferences, the agenda had already been developed for the conferences. As a substitute, we developed an educational event at the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies as well as a wild pig educational session at The Wildlife Society's 2011 Annual Conference.
Impacts
We believe our project has made a significant contribution to the general knowledge of wild pigs and how detrimental this exotic, invasive animal species can be to landowners, wildlife resources, and agriculture in the U.S. Since the project was launched, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks have revised their policies regarding wild pig management. Both agencies have moved from a passive stance to an active role in pig management by initiating population control on wildlife management areas, modifying pig transport regulations, increasing penalties for transportation violators, and especially in the case of Tennessee, making wild pig hunting illegal in many areas. Our workshops were attended by natural resource management professionals from state wildlife agencies, private timber companies, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Park Service, Department of Defense, Levee Board, and others. Additionally, wild pig workshops and seminars in Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Tennessee were attended by the respective State Agriculture Commissioners, which was a critical step necessary to promote a working relationship between the Agricultural and Wildlife agencies. We believe this project contributed to the overall awareness of the dangers of wild pigs and that action, from the landowner to the policy makers, must take place if wild pigs are to be controlled and populations reduced. We believe this was possible due to the multi-tiered approach we took with face-to-face workshops and seminars as well as through multiple forms of media (publication, video, and website). We believe this project contributed to the overall awareness of the dangers of wild pigs and that action, from the landowner to the policy makers, must take place if wild pigs are to be controlled and populations reduced. We believe this was possible due to the multi-tiered approach we took with face-to-face workshops and seminars as well as through multiple forms of media (publication, video, and website). The publication, A landowner's guide for wild pig management: practical methods for wild pig control (complete citation listed below), has been downloaded from the Mississippi State University Extension website a total of 91,024 times since May 2010. In addition, more than 5,000 hard copies have been distributed. As an example of this project's impact, one of the principal investigators (West) served on the committee created by The Wildlife Society to create a Position Statement regarding the management of wild pigs in the United States. The materials we produced were the primary resources used by the committee charged with creating the statement, which can be viewed at http://joomla.wildlife.org/documents/positionstatements/feral_swine_0 80211.pdf.
Publications
- Hamrick, B., Smith, M., Jaworowski, C., and Strickland, B. 2011. A landowner's guide for wild pig management: practical methods for wild pig control. Publication 2659 of the Mississippi State University Extension Service.
- West, B. C., A. Cooper, and J. A. Armstrong. 2009. Managing wild pigs: A technical guide. Human-Wildlife Interactions Monograph 1:1-55.
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Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: First budget period deliverables for the project, Managing Wild Pigs: A Multi-tiered Educational Approach, are as follows: 1) Wild Pig Damage Presentation at National Invasive Species Awareness Week. In January of 2010, a group of wildlife professionals from Mississippi State University (Ben West, Jessica Tegt, and Bill Hamrick) and an Extension colleague from Texas A&M University (Billy Higginbotham) traveled to Washington D.C. and delivered a wild pig presentation at the National Invasive Species Awareness Week Conference. They presented the origins of wild pigs in the United States, pig biology and behavior, disease, agriculture and ecological impacts, and control methods. 2) The 2010 International Pig Conference. In a cooperative effort with The Berryman Institute, Bill Hamrick served as a co-organizer of the 2010 International Wild Pig Conference in Pensacola, FL (April 11 - 13). 3) the Wild Pig Damamage Management Mobile Educational Unit. The mobile education unit is a 5' x 8' cargo trailer comprised of various trap and trigger designs to demonstrate to workshop attendees how these technolgies operate. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals - Ben West (former PI) has 10 years of experience in Extension education, including five years as National Outreach Coordinator for the Berryman Institute, an organization dedicated to resolving human-wildlife conflicts. During his time with the Institute, Ben has conducted over 50 workshops for 1,400 natural resource professionals across the country. He has published over 45 technical and popular publications, and delivered nearly 80 presentations at regional, national, and international meetings. Bronson Strickland (current PI) is currently an Assistant Extension Professor/Wildlife Specialist in the Department of Wildlife & Fisheries at Mississippi State University. In this position, Bronson has worked with Auburn University, USDA Wildlife Services, and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks to develop Feral Hog Management workshops for landowners and natural resource professionals. During his three years working as an Extension Wildlife Specialist, Bronson has authored or co-authored 10 Extension publications, delivered 14 Extension presentations, spoken at 7 seminars or short-courses, and developed or co-organized 11 wildlife management workshops or short-courses. Previously, Bronson has worked with the USDA National Wildlife Research Center and the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study. Bill Hamrick is currently an Extension Associate in the Department of Wildlife & Fisheries at Mississippi State University. In this position Bill has assisted with wild pig damage workshops and has delivered public talks/presentations on the subject of wild pig damage and population control. Prior to his current position, Bill was employed as a Research Technician with the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS) at The University of Georgia. During his four years at SCWDS, as part of disease surveillance efforts in cooperation with USDA-Wildlife Services, Bill worked extensively hunting and trapping wild pigs in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. TARGET AUDIENCES: The ultimate target audience consists of landowners, wildlife professionals, and policy makers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: We had originally proposed a session at the North American Natural Resources Conference in 2011; however, we were informed that the agenda for that conference had already been set. Instead, we will be placed on the agenda of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Annual Conference to be held in the fall of 2011. As with the North American Natural Resources Conference, we had originally proposed a session at the Association of State Departments of Agriculture National Conference in 2011. Unfortunately, the agenda has already been set for the 2011 conference. Instead, we have requested to be on the agenda of the Southeastern Regional Annual Meeting of the Association of State Departments of Agriculture to be held in June 2011.
Impacts
In the 9 years prior to the 2010 National Invasive Species Awareness Conference, the topic of wild pigs had never before been included at this conference. Presentations at this conference resulted in invasive species professionals attending the 2010 International Wild Pig Conference. The 2010 International Wild Pig Conference had an attendance of 175 people consisting of state and federal wildlife biologists and scientists from throughout the U.S. as well as scientists from Australia, Iran, Germany, and the U.K.
Publications
- West, B. C., A.L. Cooper, and J. B. Armstrong. 2009. Managing wild pigs: A technical guide. Human-Wildlife Interactions Monograph 1:1-55
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