ABSTRACT

From a wildlife ecologist’s perspective, wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are truly incredible animals. Few large mammals show plasticity necessary to maintain relatively high survival and reproductive rates among variable landscapes found throughout North America. From conifer forests of British Columbia to southern reaches of the Florida Everglades, and most places in between, wild pigs manage to adapt, exploit their local environment, and often persist. While populations of most native species remain relatively limited in many of these locales (based on resources available), wild pigs seem to remain untethered by such constraints and often thrive. Aside from occasional assistance provided by humans, wild pigs accomplish this feat through occupying what is, in many respects, a vacant niche (see Chapter 6). This allows them to exploit their surroundings and communities that dwell within, often proving invariant to factors that typically limit populations. This resourcefulness and utility is one of the primary factors making wild pigs such successful invaders; however, this success occurs at the expense of native wildlife, host environments, and human-focused land uses such as agriculture and forestry.