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Wild Boar and Feral Hogs

What is the difference between a "Wild Boar" and a

"Feral Hog" in Tennessee? Read here what the experts have to say.

"History of Wild Swine in the United States"
"Historically, wild populations of swine in the United States were derived from two types of founding stock: (1) Eurasian wild boar; and (2) domestic/captive-feral swine (Wood and Barrett 1979, Mayer and Brisbin 1991). The introduced wild boar were released in specific areas to provide huntable game. Domestic/captive-feral swine either were released under open range conditions to fend for themselves or escaped confinement and became wild-living. In places where the two forms were sympatric, hybridization occurred. Sportsman interest in wild swine as game animals has led to countless subsequent releases and relocations of various combinations of these forms with the intent of either establishing new populations or "improving" existing populations (Mayer and Brisbin 1991). Prior to the mid 1980s, all of the wild boar populations in this country had been hybridized to some extent with the feral hog genotype. Beginning in 1986, there have been at least two importations of pure Eurasian wild boar into the United States. Although none of these animals has been documented as having been used to start a wild population, given the interest in pure wild boar as big game and the history of such stocking efforts in this country, the potential for such an occurrence is almost certain. Therefore, it currently is possible to encounter wild populations that might vary from pure feral hog to pure Eurasian wild boar in composition."

North Carolina Wild Boar History

"History and Status

"In 1908 the Whiting Manufacturing Company of England bought a large tract of land in the Snowbird Mountains in Graham County, North Carolina. Within this tract was a mountain known as Hooper's Bald. Mr. George Gordon Moore, an American advisor for the company, was allowed to establish a game reserve on company land on Hooper's Bald around 1909. In 1911, a 500 to 600-acre hog lot was constructed, with a split rail fence nine rails high. In April 1912, a shipment of 14 European wild hogs, including 11 sows and 3 boars, arrived and was released in the lot. They each weighed approximately 60 to 75 pounds. They were purchased from an agent in Berlin, Germany, who claimed that they came from the Ural Mountains of Russia. The hogs arrived in Murphy by train and were hauled to Hooper's Bald by oxdrawn wagon. One sow died en route to Hooper's Bald. From the beginning the lot was not hog proof, and apparently some of the hogs rooted out and escaped and returned at will. The majority remained in the lot for eight to 10 years and increased in numbers. In the early 1920s, when the lot contained approximately 60 to 100 hogs, a hunt with dogs was conducted. Only two hogs were killed, but many escaped the lot during the hunt. The escapees became established in the surrounding mountain terrain of Graham County, North Carolina and Monroe County, Tennessee. Today Hooper's Bald is owned by the U.S. Forest Service and is a part of the Nantahala National Forest.

The boar thrived in Graham County and spread into other counties as well as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In 1979 the boar was given the status of game animal by the N.C. Iegislature.

The first open season was held in the Cherokee National Forest in 1936 and in the Nantahala National Forest in 1937 (Frome 1966). "