Wild Pig Spatial Ecology and Behavior

Gray, Steven M.; Roloff, Gary J.; Montgomery, Robert A.; Beasley, James C.; Pepin, Kim M.

doi:10.1201/b22014-3

Cited by 18 publications

(51 citation statements)

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“…Although wild pigs exhibit several behaviors that correspond to short and intermediate step-lengths and tight turn angles (e.g., resting, wallowing, rubbing, tusking, foraging, etc. ), for management purposes of wild pigs classifying behaviors into resting, foraging, and traveling encapsulated the most common and consistent motivations of space use (e.g., forage, cover, thermoregulation) 19 as demonstrated by Blasetti et al 58 using captive adult wild pigs that spent approximately 58.9% of their time resting, 14% of their time foraging, and 27.1% of their time traveling. Also, wild pigs have demonstrated variable activity patterns that can shift throughout the year 29 , 59 , 60 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We used HMMs to model the movement characteristics and associated behavioral states of wild pigs for two distinct seasons based on food availability. We considered January through April to represent a low-food availability time period based on dietary preferences of wild pigs 19 , which also generally represents the peak trapping season in the Southeastern U.S. May through December was considered a high-food availability time period when ample amounts of fruits and plants are available throughout the Spring and Summer months, followed by acorns and other mast in Fall and early Winter. Initially, we used all data collected at 30-min intervals and compared HMM outputs for 30-min locations to outputs of models for the same individuals when subset to 1-h locations, and there were no substantial differences.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sex has been found to be an important predictor of wild pig home range size, with males typically having a larger home range and greater movement rates than females 38 . Also, wild pigs have demonstrated seasonal differences in home range size and habitat selection based on resource availability 19 , 23 , 39 . Therefore, we expected sex-specific and seasonal-specific differences in the movement parameters (e.g., step-lengths and turning angles) associated with each behavioral state.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These are major concerns for wildlife managers since wild pigs have the potential to alter ecosystems across broad spatial scales and have extreme economic impacts 6 , 16 – 18 . Like most wild animals, the movement behavior of wild pigs is largely driven by spatio-temporal variation in the distribution of resources throughout the landscape 19 , 20 . Wild pigs move deliberately, choosing different resource patches depending on their current needs (rest, forage, mates, etc.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, we expected associated resource selection with movement behaviors to shift throughout the year based on food availability. Overall, given their association with riparian areas 19 , 29 , 30 , we expected behavioral states that aligned with restricted movements (i.e., resting and foraging) to be associated with forested areas proximal to water (i.e., bottomland hardwoods) and areas with greater canopy cover, especially in the warmer and mast (e.g., acorns) producing months (Table 1 ). In contrast, given the heterogeneous distribution of riparian areas throughout our study site we expected wild pigs would more extensively use upland pines and linear features such as roads while traveling (Table 1 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Behavioral state resource selection in invasive wild pigs in the Southeastern United States

Clontz

Pepin

VerCauteren

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Elucidating correlations between wild pig (Sus scrofa) behavior and landscape attributes can aid in the advancement of management strategies for controlling populations. Using GPS data from 49 wild pigs in the southeastern U.S., we used hidden Markov models to define movement path characteristics and assign behaviors (e.g., resting, foraging, travelling). We then explored the connection between these behaviors and resource selection for both sexes between two distinct seasons based on forage availability (i.e., low forage, high forage). Females demonstrated a crepuscular activity pattern in the high-forage season and a variable pattern in the low-forage season, while males exhibited nocturnal activity patterns across both seasons. Wild pigs selected for bottomland hardwoods and dense canopy cover in all behavioral states in both seasons. Males selected for diversity in vegetation types while foraging in the low-forage season compared to the high-forage season and demonstrated an increased use of linear anthropogenic features across seasons while traveling. Wild pigs can establish populations and home ranges in an array of landscapes, but our results demonstrate male and female pigs exhibit clear differences in movement behavior and there are key resources associated with common behaviors that can be targeted to improve the efficiency of management programs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Behavioral state resource selection in invasive wild pigs in the Southeastern United States

Clontz

Pepin

VerCauteren

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Rooting Out Genetic Structure of Invasive Wild Pigs in Texas

et al. 2021

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Invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa), also called feral swine or wild hogs, are recognized as among the most destructive invasive species in the world. Throughout the United States, invasive wild pigs have expanded rapidly over the past 40 years with populations now established in 38 states. Of the estimated 6.9 million wild pigs distributed throughout the United States, Texas supports approximately 40% of the population and similarly bears disproportionate ecological and economic costs. Genetic analyses are an effective tool for understanding invasion pathways and tracking dispersal of invasive species such as wild pigs and have been used recently in California and Florida, USA, which have similarly long-established populations and high densities of wild pigs. Our goals were to use molecular approaches to elucidate invasion and migration processes shaping wild pig populations throughout Texas, compare our results with patterns of genetic structure observed in California and Florida, and provide insights for effective management of this invasive species. We used a high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array to evaluate population genetic structure. Genetic clusters of wild pigs throughout Texas demonstrate 2 distinct patterns: weakly resolved, spatially dispersed clusters and well-resolved, spatially localized clusters. The disparity in patterns of genetic structure suggests disparate processes are differentially shaping wild pig populations in various localities throughout the state. Our results differed from the patterns of genetic structure observed in California and Florida, which were characterized by localized genetic clusters. These differences suggest distinct biological and perhaps anthropogenic processes are shaping genetic structure in Texas. Further, these disparities demonstrate the need for location-specific management strategies for controlling wild pig populations and mitigating associated ecological and economic costs.

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Behavioral states in space and time: understanding landscape use by an invasive mammal

et al. 2022

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Animal movement models can be used to understand species behavior and assist with implementation of management activities. We explored behavioral states of an invasive wild pig (Sus scrofa) population that recently colonized central Michigan, USA, 2014–2018. To quantify environmental factors related to wild pig movement ecology and spatio‐temporal landscape use, we predicted wild pig behavioral states relative to land cover type, landscape structure (i.e., edge and patch cohesion), and weather conditions. We used global positioning system (GPS)‐collars and monitored 8 wild pigs from 2014–2018. We fit local convex hulls and calculated movement metrics revealing 3 wild pig behavioral states (resting, exploratory, and relocating) and constructed a 3‐level model to predict behavioral state probabilities relative to biotic and abiotic conditions. Probabilities of exploratory and resting behaviors were higher nearer to riparian and open herbaceous cover types (oftentimes emergent marsh), indicating that these cover types provided security cover during activity and bedding. Hard mast cover types had a strong positive association with relocating behaviors. More cohesive patches of agriculture and shrub cover types were associated with higher probabilities of exploratory behaviors, while resting was more likely in continuous patches of agriculture (mostly mid‐summer corn). The probability of exploratory behaviors increased exponentially with warming ambient temperature. Our results may be used by managers to develop control strategies conducive to landscape and environmental conditions where the likelihood of encountering wild pigs is highest or targeting wild pigs when in a behavioral state most vulnerable to a particular removal technique.

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Wild Pig Spatial Ecology and Behavior

Cited by 18 publications

References 0 publications

Behavioral state resource selection in invasive wild pigs in the Southeastern United States

Behavioral state resource selection in invasive wild pigs in the Southeastern United States

Rooting Out Genetic Structure of Invasive Wild Pigs in Texas

Behavioral states in space and time: understanding landscape use by an invasive mammal

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