Wild pigs cause approximately 150 million dollars of damage annually in Georgia and they are well established in the state and throughout the Southeast. Unfortunately, wild pig populations are expanding.  Wild pigs have an amazing reproductive capacity: sows start breeding at a young age, breed often, and have large litters. These characteristics lend themselves to rapid population growth, and areas with just a few pigs are sure to have many pigs in a short period of time in the absence of population control measures.

The Jones Center is one of many partners collaborating on an NRCS funded grant to the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District to evaluate wild pig control efforts as implemented by USDA wildlife services. The Jones Center is working with faculty at UGA to study the effectiveness of wild pig control methods and to quantify benefits of wild pig control on native wildlife and their habitats, water quality, and agriculture production. Also part of this project is landowner workshops designed to share the latest wild pig control methods and to share research results.