Hunters to Trap & Shoot Pigs on Santa Cruz Island

[spectr17]

September 17, 2002

Hunters to Trap and Shoot Pigs on Santa Cruz Island

Park service officials say the eradication of the nonnative swine, which are damaging sensitive sites, is key to restoring land to its natural state.

By JENIFER RAGLAND, LOS TIMES STAFF WRITER


Thousands of wild pigs that have been uprooting environmentally sensitive land on Santa Cruz Island will be methodically hunted and shot over the next six years under a National Park Service plan.

Eradicating the nonnative pigs, as outlined in an environmental document released this month, is a major step in a broader effort to restore Santa Cruz Island to its natural state, officials said.

"Removing the pigs is an important piece to that big picture," said Kate Faulkner, chief of natural resources management for Channel Islands National Park.

Not only do the hairy, scruffy swine dig up and devour the bulbous roots of many rare and endangered plant species, they also have damaged nearly all of the 687 identified archeological sites on the island--some that include 8,000-year-old Chumash artifacts.

More indirectly, the pigs have contributed to the decline of the island fox, a species that is unique to Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and San Miguel islands off the Ventura County coast. Pigs serve as a food source for interloping golden eagles, which then supplement their diets with the diminutive island fox, Faulkner said. The omnivorous pigs also compete with the fox for food.

And the animals have been blamed for spreading seeds of the invasive fennel plant, which covers more than 10% of the island.

Domestic pigs were introduced to the island by a Santa Barbara rancher in the mid-1800s, Faulkner said. The feral descendants are smaller, hairier and occasionally tusked.

Park service officials have been developing a plan to kill the pigs for about two years, in cooperation with the Nature Conservancy, which owns 75% of Santa Cruz Island. The eradication is part of a process that includes trapping golden eagles that prey on the pigs, bringing back native bald eagles and launching a captive breeding program for the island fox.

Four alternatives for eliminating the pigs were explored in the environmental study. The option preferred by the park service calls for dividing the 65,000-acre island into six hunting zones, separated by 45 miles of chain-link fence.

An outside contractor will be hired to hunt and shoot the pigs zone by zone, until they are eradicated, Faulkner said. The fences will prevent the pigs from moving into a zone that already has been cleared. Hunters will be aided by walk-in traps placed in each zone.

She said the method was effective on Santa Rosa Island during a pig-eradication project about 10 years ago.

Fencing the island will cost about $2 million, Faulkner said, with an eradication contract likely costing an additional $4 million to $5 million. Officials hope to begin hunting this spring.

Some animal-rights advocates are appalled by the process.

Michael Markarian, executive vice president of the New York-based Fund for Animals, said there are more humane ways to kill feral pigs than by catching them in traps and shooting them.

"The National Park Service simply has a knee-jerk reaction to any species they consider not native," said Markarian, who sued the park service last year over its plan to rid Anacapa Island of black rats. "It's an agencywide vendetta against exotic animals."

According to the park service report, officials studied alternatives such as death by lethal injection or the introduction of swine diseases, but none were found as effective as "a well-placed gunshot."

"These other methods could also inflict more pain and suffering to the pigs," the report said.

 

[Hogskin]

Few things are as effective as a well placed gunshot.

It's pretty annoying that they're going to pay somebody to do this. Few things are as idiotic (and dangerous) as the California and Federal bureaucrats.

Regards,
Paul

 

[songdog]

If the pigs have been there since the 1800s... wouldn't they already have done all the damage that they could have done? Their population swings have already been to the top and back. Leave the island for another 150 years and go back and odds are you'll find it just like it is today. Still pigs, still fox, still plants, still eagles.

 

[jmabbott888]

Couldn't the great state of California make money by letting the public hunt the pigs there? If we pay for the licence & tags thats $47, the boatride is another God knows how much then a special permit to hunt that they would invent, Say $200 on the cheap side to go & hunt for a day times how many would go has to be a hell of a lot of money & they ain't spending any on us.

 

[MrMullen]

Originally posted by jmabbott888@Sep 18 2002, 09:42 PM
Couldn't the great state of California make money by letting the public hunt the pigs there? If we pay for the licence & tags thats $47, the boatride is another God knows how much then a special permit to hunt that they would invent, Say $200 on the cheap side to go & hunt for a day times how many would go has to be a hell of a lot of money & they ain't spending any on us.

Well, I might point out that California government is about as stupid as stupid is. Just look at the gun laws, but that's another subject.

But I think your right. California gets $47 before you even leave your house and they could probably get a "special" permit fee of $100 out of each person for each weekend. They could also get the transport fee and all that. So if only 100 people go per season, that's $10,000 + whatever other fees they can get out of you. $10,000 to fix a problem for them. I wish I could get a racket like that.

As long as it's under $250 total (Permits, Tags, other fees), it's still fairly cheap.

 

[Soccer Dad]

$4 - $5 million to shoot the pigs on the island. What waste of taxpayers money!!!!!!

Fence it and hunt it with paying hunters!!!!!!!!!!! Save the taxpayers millions of dollars. Our government never ceases to amaze me with the decisions they make.............

 

[so cal hunter]

Maybe the state of calif. / dfg could do justice by allowing use to hunt there due to the N.F. being shut down due to fire. i know this is really reaching at straw's but maybe ?. or the other thing they might consider if they do kill all those hog's is having the meat butchered and donating the meat from these hog's to some of the many less fortunate people in calif. instead of pushing it off in a hole somewhere. just a few thought's so cal hunter

 

[JBarn3]

Hey, where do we put in a bid on that eradication contract?

Just think, the next several JHP hunts on the island, then use the profits to buy a nice upland game ranch....

Oh, the possibilities.

OK, I'll wake up now.

 

[traxman]

Hey JBarn3, you have a good idea there. I know we could get together enough people to bid on this Government eradication project!

Heck, I'd be willing to do it for under to $2 million. We could even rent a helicopter and pilot to transfer all of us over. With the amount of JHPers we have here, we could do it in a couple of weekends!

Ahhh, dare to dream...

Nate

 

[SDHNTR]

No kidding, 4-5million for a bunch of guys to shoot these suckers! I'm in the wrong business. Where do I sign up for the eradication job? As a hunter who actually did get to hunt on the island during the DFG hunts I feel extremely fortunate to have had that experience but angry about this. It is so stupid and a waste of money. Its not the DFG's fault. They really worked hard to get us the few sport hunts that they did. And they truthfully would have loved to give more opportunity but the Nature Nonservancy would not let them. I guess they are not against hunting, as that is what these eradicaton guys are doing, they are just against the hunters. Their loss. If they pulled their heads out of their respective rears they would realize that the money that could be made (not spent) in eradicating these pigs by hunters would do far more benefit for wildlife than this sorry attempt. The liberal mind never ceases to amaze me. Another classic case of emotion dictating policy over rational logic.

 

[MrMullen]

Who do we contact for this. This just is dumb, paying 6-7 million to fix a problem that all of us on this board would love to fix.

All of us could send in polite email explaing that they should charge a permit fee and contact some boat company to tansport people. Then let 100 or 50 or 25 people on to the island at a time for the next year, and make it just like the earlier hunts. With aggresive hunting, we could cut the population down by %75. In the end, the state would get money, we would get pigs and the conservation group would get rid of the pigs. Make sense to me.

 

[traxman]

Getting to the island would be no problem. Island packers goes to Santa Cruz every weekend. Probably any dive boat out of Ventura could be chartered for this; they do it all the time.

The problem would be with the Nature Conservancy. They have final say over this, and I doubt they would go for this. Even so, I wouldn't know where to start.

If the guy bidding for this contract had his head on straight, he would collect the $5 million from the state, then sell tickets to hunters to be a part of his "crew". Instead of paying people to help him with this, he could have hunters paying him for the priviledge.

 

[MrMullen]

Originally posted by traxman@Nov 7 2002, 10:14 AM
The problem would be with the Nature Conservancy.  They have final say over this, and I doubt they would go for this.  Even so, I wouldn't know where to start.

Well, running Kate's name through Google.com returned this Press Release. I think contacting her and finding out where to go would be a good idea. I will do that.

 

[Speckmisser]

I know this has been discussed pretty thoroughly before, but keep in mind that they are ERADICATING the pigs from the island. That means babies, mommas, and everything in between. This is not hunting, and most sport hunters wouldn't be willing to do it... much less pay to do it. I'd love to be able to hunt that island, but not if it means I'm going over there to shoot 1/2 lb piglets.

Another point I made previously, and I'll stick to it... hunting by sport methods will not get all of the pigs. The only way to get them all is using the methods the professional guys will employ... traps, night hunting, etc. This won't be "fun" hunting. It won't even be hunting. It's extermination.

The debate over the value of the eradication plan is a different issue, and probably ought to be kept to the Hot Topics and Politics forum due to the heated nature of the arguments.

 

[MrMullen]

Here is what I got back:




Jason,

Thanks for your inquiry. The island with the feral pigs is Santa Cruz
Island. There used to be feral pigs on Santa Rosa Island. We eradicated
those pigs in the early 1990's using a contractor (similar to the approach
planned for Santa Cruz Island).

The feral pigs on Santa Rosa Island were hunted by sport hunters for a
number of years. That did achieve some control of the population.
However, pigs have such a high reproductive potential that they were always
able to maintain high numbers and cause considerable problems in sensitive
habitats and to archeological sites. We found that environmental
conditions, particularly rainfall amounts, were the most important factor
in determining how high pig populations were on Santa Rosa Island.

We have determined that eradication of feral pigs is needed on Santa Cruz
Island because of the high reproductive potential of the feral pigs and the
extreme sensitivity of the rare plants and archeological sites.
Controlling pig numbers allows too much ongoing degradation of natural and
cultural resources. Sport hunting has been allowed on that island in the
past, but has not made an adequate difference in the damage caused by the
pigs. The State of California ran the final sport hunt for feral pigs on
Santa Cruz Island next spring.

The next step in protecting and restoring Santa Cruz will be eradication of
the feral pigs. Based on our experience and that of others, we feel that
the only way to achieve the goal is to work with a professional contractor
who will focus all of their efforts on learning the island, learning the
habits of the pigs, and committing themselves to the very difficult task of
complete eradication. We plan to begin this project next year.

Thank you for your interest in the park islands. Feel free to contact me
if you have any more questions


She makes a good point and does Speckmisser.
However, I think my point is that they gain enough fee's from some hunting to help offset the costs of the eradication. We all know the goal is to removal of the pig, it just seems that Pig Hunting community should get the oppitunity to take a few down. State makes money, we get meat.

 

[DaMatRat]

Hey guys just seen this on ABC News.com


http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20021108_445.html

 

[Rancho Loco]

Gee, I didn't think PETA would get involved...

 

[Marty]

Fences Go Up as Pig Eradication Plan Begins on Santa Cruz Island

By David Kelly, Times Staff Writer


After four years of intense planning, the controversial effort to eradicate up to 4,000 destructive wild pigs on Santa Cruz Island has officially begun.

Lines of fencing are being thrown up across the rugged island, beginning the slow encirclement of the swine. Once the pigs are trapped inside the fences, they will be stalked and shot by contract hunters.

I am just thrilled to have it underway," said Lynn Lozier, Santa Cruz Island project director for the Nature Conservancy. "This is the first tangible piece of restoring the island to its original condition. The presence of the pigs [is] central to all the problems we face on the island."

The $2.1-million fencing operation, which began last month, is scheduled to take five to seven years to complete. The island will be divided into five zones, each about 15,000 acres. Every year, a new zone will be fenced off and hunted until the pigs within it are gone.

"This technique has been used successfully all over the world," said Erik Aschehoug, a Nature Conservancy biologist. The first zone should be fenced by December, and hunting will begin in late spring, he said.

Biologists and wildlife officials say the pigs are the biggest impediment to the massive ecological restoration effort being conducted on the island.

The pigs dig deep holes, strip bark from rare trees and uproot Chumash artifacts. Worse, they attract non-native golden eagles, which dine on feral piglets and also have a taste for the endangered island fox. The eagles nearly ate the foxes into extinction before most of the foxes were rounded up and put in kennels, where they will remain until the eagles are gone.

"To some extent we have been treating the symptoms," Lozier said. "We can continue to do that, to keep the island from getting sicker. But this project is exciting because we are moving toward a more self-sustaining balance on the island."

At 90 square miles, Santa Cruz is the largest of the eight Channel Islands. The Nature Conservancy, which owns about 75% of the island, and Channel Islands National Park, which owns the rest, are cooperating on the pig project. The first fences are going up on Nature Conservancy land.

The pigs, which weigh up to 150 pounds and are armed with sharp tusks, were brought to the island in the 1850s by a Santa Barbara farmer. After escaping, they survived largely by digging up and eating fennel bulbs.

From 1990 to 1993, the park service killed about 1,100 wild pigs on Santa Rosa Island, also part of Channel Islands National Park. A similar anti-swine effort is underway on Santa Catalina Island, which put up 17 miles of pig-proof fencing in 1999. Biologists there expect the pigs to be gone within two years. In the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador, biologists are also trying to get rid of pigs to save the native flora and fauna.

But the porcine marauders have their defenders.

"We are not arguing that they don't need to do something about the pigs, we are arguing with their methods," said Stephanie Boyles, wildlife biologist with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "The animals are totally innocent here. There is no reason their numbers can't be brought down in a more humane and progressive way. The park service is rushing this.''

PETA has suggested shooting the pigs with contraceptive darts to eradicate them over time. The group also proposed trapping and euthanizing them. "Even a shot in the head is better than what they have planned," Boyles said. "It will be a terrifying experience for the animals. They have demonized these animals. No animal is evil. They are making do with what they have on an island they can't leave."

Aschehoug said rounding up thousands of pigs and administering contraceptives would be nearly impossible. As for euthanasia, he said, capturing all the pigs and giving them injections would be more stressful for them than shooting.

"We are not interested in killing pigs but in restoring an island," he said. "Unfortunately, the pigs are in the way."

 

[HOGHUNTER714]

Theres gotta be something we can do to make our voice heard. This is just a waste of money to hire a contracter to come out and get rid of these hogs. We have so many hunters on this board and around So Cal that would love an opptunity to harvest a hog over on the island. Its a win/win situation. The state of california can make some money and hunters can take a hog or two from the island. This basically just pisses me off what they are doing and I wanna do something about it.

 

[Rancho Loco]

Come on...In order for hunting to occur, the resource (pigs) must be MANAGED, just like any other game. These pigs are to be ERADICATED. It's a big difference.

We've all seen what pigs can do.
On an island the effects are magnified.

Shouldn't there be anyplace here in the state that can be restored to a condition that existed hundreds of years ago?
Isn't there a place where the introduction of an incredibly destructive species be reversed in order to preserve what is left?

I just don't see preservation and restoration as a waste of money.
To me it's money in the bank.

You know, the state could sell the island to Club Med, and they could build golf courses and resorts. The state would make money, prolly alot more than through hunters.. How does that sound?