Update: Wild pigs negatively impact ground-nesting birds
Written by: Josh Helcel, Joe Richards and Layne Mustian.
Wild pigs are an invasive species that can cause damages to private land, water quality and other wildlife populations. For ground-nesting birds, wild pigs pose a real threat to nest success and population numbers. Recent research documented that wild pigs readily consume eggs and depredate both wild and simulated nests. For the Rio Grande turkey (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia), Eastern turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris), Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and declining waterfowl species, nest destruction by wild pigs may lead to decreased nest success and population numbers.
Abatement efforts to reduce the negative impacts associated with wild pigs remain essential to the conservation of natural resources and native wildlife. Learn more about the impact of wild pigs on ground-nesting birds in this short video.
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Authors
Josh Helcel is a project coordinator with the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute (NRI). He specializes in educational programming and providing technical assistance to landowners and others seeking to control expanding…
