A wild pig attack can be very scary!
Whether it’s a 180 kg boar with five-inch tusks or an enraged sow defending her litter, feral pigs are formidable and can attack human beings. Perhaps the greater risk, though, is that of contracting a disease from an infected feral pig.
Adult male wild pigs develop tusks, continuously growing teeth that protrude from the mouth, from their upper and lower canine teeth. These serve as weapons and tools. The upper tusks are bent upwards in males, and are regularly ground against the lower ones to produce sharp edges.
Male wild pigs attack by lowering his head, charges, and then slashes upward with his tusks. The female, whose tusks are not visible, charges with her head up, mouth wide, and bites. Such attacks are not often fatal to humans, but may result in severe trauma, dismemberment, or blood loss.
In Australia and New Zealand Wild pigs or Feral pigs have a significant impact on the environment and agricultural production and are a potential reservoir and vector of exotic diseases. Control methods include poisoning, trapping, exclusion fencing, ground shooting and shooting wild pigs from helicopters.
Ground shooting of wild pigs is undertaken by government vertebrate pest control officers, landholders and professional or experienced amateur shooters. Although intensive ground shooting operations may reduce the local populations of feral pigs, it is rarely effective for damage control and is not suitable as a long-term control method. Shooting from a helicopter is a more effective method of quickly reducing feral pig populations.
If dogs are used to flush feral pigs out from vegetation, they must be adequately controlled to prevent them from attacking pigs. In the event that a dog latches onto a pig, the dog must be called off and be made to stay behind the shooter until the pig has been killed.
