ABSTRACT

True wild pigs (Sus scrofa) belonging to the mammalian Family Suidae are not indigenous to North America (Wilson and Reeder 2005). In fact, the only pig-like mammals native to the Western Hemisphere are the peccaries (Family Tayassuidae), and only 2 of the 3 extant peccary species have ranges that extend into North America (Sowls 2013). The presence of wild pigs belonging to the species Sus scrofa in the Nearctic zoogeographic realm is solely attributable to introductions by mankind (see also Section 2.7 on the presence of introduced warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) in Texas). Such introductions were both intentional (e.g., Eurasian wild boar released as a new big game species) and accidental (e.g., escaped domestic pigs that have gone wild or feral; Mayer and Brisbin 2008, 2009).