Wild pigs: Open space district traps, kills them Wild pigs: Open space district traps, kills them (September 13, 2000)

As wild pigs root and wallow their way up the Peninsula hills, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District is trapping and killing the non-native animals.

The district board recently approved an agreement with the California Department of Fish and Game for a Wild Pig Control Program. It has hired a a trapper and has trapped eight pigs, said Jodi Isaacs, resource management specialist for the district.

"We are still seeing them in South Skyline on a regular basis," said Ms. Isaacs.

Pigs have also been spotted on these open space preserves: Russian Ridge, Los Trancos, La Honda and Windy Hill.

Tough, smart, and very prolific, pigs were introduced from Europe by the Spaniards, who let them run free around the missions. They have been spreading northward from the Carmel Valley and points south, doing major damage by rooting local fields and waterways as they come.

Even in summer when the fields are dry, pigs root in creek areas where they can pollute sensitive wetlands and destroy endangered species.

The trapper will concentrate on the Long Ridge Open Space Preserve, south of Page Mill Road, where pigs are most active, Ms. Isaacs said. The trapper will capture the animals, kill them humanely, and dispose of them to a rendering plant, he said. The federal Food and Drug Administration does not allow wild pigs to be used for human consumption, Ms. Isaacs said.

This is the first year of a three-year district program to control the spread of wild pigs into its open space preserves. The goal of the program is to reduce the population by 70 percent, Ms. Isaacs said.