In an attempt to stop the spread of free-range Eurasian boar, the State of New York has proposed to ban the public from hunting or trapping them. Public comments are open until January 25, 2014.

The press release says: “Hunters pursuing wild boars in locations where baited traps have been established by DEC or USDA can also undermine these costly and labor-intensive capture efforts. Shooting may remove one or two animals but the rest of the sounder [pack] scatters and rarely comes back together as a group, thereby hampering eradication efforts.”

In the press release, NY State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joseph Martens is quoted as saying, “Many hunters have offered to assist our efforts by hunting for boars wherever they occur, but experience has shown this to be counter-productive,” Martens said. “As long as swine may be pursued by hunters, there is a potential conflict with our swine eradication efforts.

Read the NYS DEC press release, here.

Photo: A feral swine piglet. By Steve Hillebrand, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service