Why Banning Hunting May Be A Better Way To Control The Feral Hog Population
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Across the country, feral hogs are causing big problems. Wild pigs cause more than $2.5 billion in damages each year when they root up land and crops. As Seth Bodine of member station KOSU reports, while some states encourage hunting, others have come up with a surprising way to try to control the population.
SETH BODINE, BYLINE: It's estimated that there are more than 6 million feral hogs across the country. And they can be huge, weighing up to 200 pounds - about the same as a Great Dane. The damage they cause can be extensive.
DYLON SCHOONOVER: It's a menace, and they don't do nothing but tear up your property.
BODINE: That's Dylon Schoonover, a hunting guide at Hog Wild Preserve in Purcell, Okla. Oklahoma's one of the states that still encourages hunting to help control the population.
(SOUNDBITE OF RAIN)
BODINE: On a rainy day, Schoonover is leading Todd Kissinger on a hunt. After zigzagging through the woods for more than an hour, they see a group of hogs and he starts to make oinking noises to lure them closer.
SCHOONOVER: I told you there's a bunch of pigs in here.
TODD KISSINGER: Yeah.
SCHOONOVER: (Imitating pig).
BODINE: Kissinger came here from Kansas just for this hunt. As a farmer and rancher in Mulvane, Kan., he understands how damaging some wildlife can be.
KISSINGER: We have huge flocks of geese that come in on our wheat fields, and they will mow it down. I mean, they will just eat it down to the bare dirt. So I can only imagine what a bunch of hogs will do when that's what their deal is to do 24/7 - is to eat, root and tear up.
BODINE: But allowing hunting can be a double-edged sword. Dale Nolte heads the USDA's Feral Swine Program. One of the problems is that people move hogs around to different areas to incentivize hunting opportunities.
DALE NOLTE: One of the big struggles we have is this - what seems to be a constant release of animals back into areas where they've been removed or into new areas.
BODINE: In the Midwest, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska already have restrictions on hunting feral hogs. Sam Wilson with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says when you allow hunting, it's actually harder to control the population.
SAM WILSON: The law seems counterintuitive at first because we're prohibiting people from hunting feral hogs. However, if you know anything about hunting and hunting culture, often the people who hunt deer, for instance, are interested in having good deer populations.
BODINE: The 2018 Farm Bill created funds for wildlife services to address hog problem areas, and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation started restricting hunting in those areas. But Eric Cowan, who works for the Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service in Oklahoma, says he runs into roadblocks trying to trap hogs on private land.
ERIC COWAN: We've got to have their permission, and there's a lot of people that don't - won't give us permission to work on their property.
BODINE: While states with growing wild hog populations are adding more restrictions, others like Texas and Oklahoma are still embracing the hunting of feral hogs. And hunting guides like Schoonover insist they're helping control the hogs.
SCHOONOVER: Just like a manager of a company manages the company and employees are employees, we manage populations, you know? And, in turn, we get to eat awesome, awesome meat.
BODINE: But guys like Schoonover might have a hard time finding a place to hunt as more and more states embrace hunting bans as a way to control populations.
For NPR News, I'm Seth Bodine in Oklahoma City.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRACE BUNDY'S "PORCH SWING") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
Kwa nini kuharamu uwindaji inaweza kuwa njia bora ya kudhibiti idadi ya nguruwe wa mwituni Leila Fadele, mwenyeji: Nchini kote, nguruwe wa mwituni wanasababisha matatizo makubwa. Kwa mfano, kila mwaka, nguruwe wa mwituni husababisha uharibifu wa zaidi ya dola bilioni 2.5 kwa kuharibu mashamba na mazao. Seth Bodine, mwandishi wa habari wa KOSU, anasema kuwa baadhi ya majimbo yanapendekeza kuwinda, mengine yamepata njia ya kushangaza ya kujaribu kudhibiti idadi ya wanyama. Kulingana na ripoti ya Shirika la Afya la Marekani, kuna zaidi ya nguruwe milioni sita nchini humo. Mnyama huyo anaweza kuwa mkubwa sana, na uzito wake waweza kufikia pauni 90 - karibu sawa na ule wa mbwa anayeitwa Great Dane. Uharibifu wanaosababisha waweza kuwa mkubwa sana. DYLON SCHOONOVER: Ni tishio, na hawafanyi chochote ila kupasua mali yako. Dillon Schoonover, kiongozi wa uwindaji katika Hifadhi ya Hog Wild huko Purcell, Oklahoma, ni mmoja wa majimbo ambayo bado yanahimiza uwindaji kusaidia kudhibiti idadi ya watu. Katika siku ya mvua, Schoonover anaongoza Todd Kissinger kwenye uwindaji. Baada ya kutembea kwa zaidi ya saa moja, wanaona kundi la nguruwe na yeye anaanza kutoa sauti za kuvutia ili kuwavuta karibu. SHOONOVER: Mimi aliiambia kuna kundi la nguruwe hapa. Todd Kissinger: Ndio. SCHOONOVER: (Kufanya kama nguruwe). Kissinger alikuja hapa kutoka Kansas tu kwa ajili ya uwindaji huu. Akiwa mkulima na mkulima wa mifugo huko Mulvane, Kan., anaelewa jinsi wanyama-pori fulani wanavyoweza kuharibu. """Tuna makundi makubwa ya bata-mbweha wanaokuja kwenye mashamba yetu ya ngano na kuwakata." Namaanisha, wao tu kula ni chini ya uchafu wazi. "Ninaweza tu kufikiria nini kundi la nguruwe watafanya wakati hiyo ni nini mpango wao ni kufanya 24 7 - ni kula, mizizi na machozi.""" "Kutaka kuondoa ""mwitu"" wa kuwinda ni upanga wenye makali mawili." Dale Nolte anaongoza Programu ya Nguruwe wa Pori ya USDA. Moja ya matatizo ni kwamba watu huhamisha nguruwe katika maeneo tofauti ili kuchochea fursa za kuwinda. "Mmoja wa changamoto kubwa tunayo ni hii - kile kinachoonekana kuwa ni kutolewa kwa wanyama mara kwa mara kurudi katika maeneo ambayo wameondolewa au katika maeneo mapya. """ Katika jimbo la Kansas, Missouri na Nebraska, kuna sheria za kuzuia uwindaji wa nguruwe. Sam Wilson, mkurugenzi wa Tume ya Hifadhi na Mbinu za Wanyamapori ya Nebraska, alisema kuwa wakati wa kuwinda, ni vigumu kudhibiti idadi ya wanyama. Sheria hiyo inaonekana kuwa ya kinyume cha akili mwanzoni kwa sababu tunakataza watu kuwinda nguruwe wa mwituni. Hata hivyo, kama unajua kitu kuhusu uwindaji na utamaduni wa uwindaji, mara nyingi watu ambao kuwinda deer, kwa mfano, ni nia ya kuwa na idadi nzuri ya deer. Sheria ya Kilimo ya 2018 iliunda fedha kwa huduma za wanyama wa porini kushughulikia maeneo ya shida ya nguruwe, na Idara ya Uhifadhi wa Wanyama wa Pori ya Oklahoma ilianza kuzuia uwindaji katika maeneo hayo. Eric Cowan, ambaye anafanya kazi katika Idara ya Usimamizi wa Mimea na Afya ya Wanyama katika Oklahoma, anasema kuwa yeye hukutana na vizuizi vya barabarani akijaribu kuwashika nguruwe kwenye ardhi ya kibinafsi. "Eric Cowan: ""Tunahitaji ruhusa yao, na kuna watu wengi ambao hawatatupa ruhusa ya kufanya kazi kwenye mali yao." Wakati majimbo yenye idadi kubwa ya nguruwe wa mwituni yanaongeza vizuizi zaidi, mengine kama vile Texas na Oklahoma bado yanakubali kuwinda nguruwe wa mwituni. Na viongozi wa uwindaji kama vile Schoonover wanasisitiza kwamba wanasaidia kudhibiti nguruwe. Kama vile mkurugenzi wa kampuni anaendesha kampuni na wafanyakazi ni wafanyakazi, sisi kusimamia idadi ya watu, unajua? Na kwa upande mwingine, tunapata kula nyama ya ajabu, ya ajabu. "Wanafunzi wa shule ya sekondari ya Schoonover wanaamini kuwa ""mwisho wa siku"" ni wakati wa kuamua kama ni lazima kuwinda kwa sababu ya idadi ya watu wanaopenda kuwinda." NPR News: Seth Bodine, Oklahoma City "Kutoka kwa ""PORCH SWING"" ya Trace Bundy, nakala iliyotolewa na NPR, hati miliki NPR."