Invasive, ecologically and economically destructive – yet prized as game, food, a source of income, and culturally important – wild pigs have substantially increased in density and range over the past decades. They represent one of the greatest wildlife management challenges that North America faces in the 21st century.
A new book, Invasive Wild Pigs in North America: Ecology, Impacts, and Management, recently won an award from The Wildlife Society for the best edited book of 2020. And one chapter, “Wild Pigs in the Pacific Islands,” was coauthored by Steve Hess, Nate Wehr, and Creighton Litton of the Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Management.
“It’s really nice to see this book published and, in particular, to see a chapter dedicated to feral pigs in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Island Region,” says Creighton.
“As is the case with most things, the Mainland gets a fair bit more attention than Hawaiʻi,” he continues. “But the impacts of feral pigs are outsized in Hawaiʻi, given the number of endangered species that occur here and the lack of large mammalian herbivores evolutionarily. The cultural importance of feral pigs in Hawaiʻi is also a unique aspect compared to the Mainland, providing both challenges to and opportunities for community engagement and collaborative stewardship of island resources.”