FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

 

ST. JOHN’S WILD HOGS

 

Have you ever seen a hog (or pig) in the bush and wondered where it came from?  These hogs are generally domestic hogs that have escaped to survive in the wild.  Christopher Columbus first introduced non-native European hogs into the West Indies in 1493.  The Danes brought wild hogs to St. John in 1718 when they colonized the island. 

 

Wild hogs have established breeding populations in many areas of Virgin Islands National Park (VINP).  Currently on St. John, many hogs are not fenced, so individual animals periodically wander into National Park lands and establish feral populations.  Currently, hogs inhabit four Park watersheds: Reef, Lameshur, Cinnamon and Maho. 

 

Hogs have thrived in Reef and to a smaller degree in Lameshur watersheds since the Park was established in 1956.  Hogs existed at Reef Bay at that time.  Popular and well-publicized hunts occurred during specific times of the year for a specific hog-roast celebration.  These hunts were neither sanctioned nor discouraged by the Park until the mid-1980’s, when hunting was expressly prohibited because the Park’s enabling legislation does not allow it. 

 

Within about three years, NPS interpreters and visitors began to complain about “hog harassment” along the popular Reef Bay Trail.  By 1995, extensive damage from hog rooting had occurred along much of the 1.5-mile trail.  Also by this time, many animals were observed at the Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station facility, where hogs used to be very rare. 

 

The success of the hogs in populating the Park can be attributed to the lack of natural predators, the prolific reproductive nature of the species, and the fact that they are omnivores.  Sows breed at six months of age and can produce up to two litters per year, with as many as 10 piglets in each litter.  Hog populations can double annually if not limited by food or water availability.  Therefore, remote populations can grow fast in the bush.  The typical domestic hog, once it becomes feral, will revert to the wild state within a couple of generations, including the growth of red, course hair and long sharp tusks. 

 

Hogs eat a variety of foods including grain, fruit, fish, fowl, carrion and vegetables.  Diets typically comprise roots, bulbs and invertebrates that hogs find by rooting in the soil.  As soils dry during spring and summer hog diets shift to green plants, especially seedlings. 

 

Hogs are known to consume listed endangered plant species on St. John, including the Federally Endangered St. Thomas lidflower, prickly ash and marron bacora (which has been proposed for listing).  Hogs impact vegetation through grazing, accelerated soil erosion, seed predation, creation of trails, change in plant distribution patterns, reduction of native plant cover, and trampling.  Hogs impact native wildlife through the destruction of habitat and competition over food resources.  Hogs tend to graze small shrubs and grasses very close to the ground and even tear the roots from the substrate, preventing regeneration.  Deforestation leads to soil erosion, which consequently results in impacts on marine ecosystems.  Hog rooting in and around historic structures can lead to accelerated degradation of cultural resources. 

 

Some primary concerns are the potential for spreading into new areas, especially now that a population is established on the northern portion of the Park, and the speed and thoroughness with which hogs can degrade the sensitive natural and cultural environments. 

 

The National Park Service (NPS) is formulating an action plan for the Sustained Reduction of Non-native Wild Hogs within Virgin Islands National Park.  This is a long-range plan for minimizing impacts from this exotic, non-native animal species within the National Park.  As the first step in this process: this document will assess various alternatives for controlling hog populations within the Park and addresses their environmental consequences.  The NPS has developed a Draft Environmental Assessment to evaluate impacts from hogs in the Park, describe control alternatives and propose actions to reduce their populations. 

 

Copies of this Draft Environmental Assessment will soon be available for review at public libraries and the Park's Visitor Center in Cruz Bay, National Park Headquarters at Christiansted NHS, St. Croix or can be downloaded from the Internet at www.nps.gov/viis or www.friendsvinp.org. 

 

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