Pigs by the sounder: wild pigs, whole sounder removal, and their effects on deer and turkey

Abstract

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are an invasive species in North America with known negative impacts on agricultural lands and native ecosystems. To explore one commonly used, but ill-described management strategy, we implemented whole sounder removal on Lowndes Wildlife Management Area in Alabama and were able to successfully remove wild pig sounders from our removal area. We also explored competition between wild pigs and two important native species, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) using occupancy and activity analyses. We found that wild pigs negatively affected probability of use and detection of deer and turkey at baited camera sites and found that turkey activity at baited camera sites may be positively impacted by sounder removals. Our results suggest that wild pigs compete with deer and turkey, so removing wild pigs with whole sounder removal will likely have a positive impact on deer and turkey populations.