GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS Status of the European Wild Boar Project Management Report No. 6

The European Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) is established as an exotic species in the majority of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Invasion into the southwestern corner of the park occurred during the late 1940's (Bratton 1974) after release or escape of boar from hunting preserves in North Carolina (Jones 1959). The National Park Service has regarded the boar as an undesirable exotic and has attempted control since 1959.

The purpose of this study plan is to evaluate past research pertaining to the boar and to incorporate that with management objectives of the National Park Service into a comprehensive, problem-solving research program.

Broad objectives of the research are:

1. To establish the basic biological parameters of the boar population including population size, fecundity, invasion stages, movements, food habits, habitat relations, and behavior.

2. To determine the detrimental effects of boar upon the ecosystem including vegetation damage, competition with other animals, overexploitation of small mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, and changes in energy flow.

3. To develop and implement effective means of controlling or eliminating wild boar that are compatible with wilderness values of the park and legal restrictions of adjacent states and counties.