(Reuters) – Wild boar are invading the farms of central New York state, attacking livestock, killing family pets, chasing people and posing “devastating consequences” for the area, federal officials warn.

The feral swine are a non-native species suspected of escaping from game farms, and as many as a couple of hundred are roaming the state, said Paul Curtis, a natural resources professor at Cornell University.

While an exact picture of the wild boar population in New York State is unclear, a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the swine were successfully breeding in the three counties and producing litters averaging 4 to 6 piglets.

“We’ve shot probably 15 to 20 of them in the last three years,” said Peter Andersen, a third generation farmer in Long Eddy in Sullivan County.

Noting how difficult it is to kill the wild boar, Andersen described what sounded like a scene from a horror movie that could be called “Robo-Swine.”

“We’ve shot them right square in the head and the bullet will glance off and they’ll get up and go. Their skulls are so thick in the front, if you don’t happen to hit it at a perfect 90 degrees, with the way their heads have that kind of curved shape, the bullet will glance right off,” he said.

Full article at Reuters

COMMENTS

July 30, 2011 at 6:44 pm

EmC_98 says:

Whoa! That’s just creepy.

July 30, 2011 at 6:52 pm

roz says:

and i thought all the deadly bores were in the NYC boardrooms!

boars are pretty tuf–just axe the medieval hunters who usta kill em with lances! :0

July 30, 2011 at 7:20 pm

Annette M says:

*crosses New York off possible holiday destination list*

July 30, 2011 at 7:30 pm

Matt says:

15-20 in 3 years, in the rural areas of the STATE- not the city. Hardly an invasion. Not quite a pig-version of Gemlins II: The New Batch. Still pretty cool though.

July 30, 2011 at 9:55 pm

Carol Bradshaw says:

Oh yeah, that’s evolution for ya! )

July 31, 2011 at 7:41 am

Elizabeth says:

greetings beautiful and handsome people from nowhere near this region!

new york state (does not equal) new york city.

July 31, 2011 at 11:43 am

Flapjack says:

Miss Piggy was always pretty tough and had a thing about karate chopping everyone that got in her way, maybe she’s become a mum?

August 1, 2011 at 10:56 pm

alan says:

chasing people and posing “devastating consequences”
Know what they mean. I’ve trod in some of those devastating consequences myself.

We’ve shot them right square in the head and the bullet will glance off and they’ll get up and go.
So that’s where all the devastating consequences are coming from.

August 12, 2011 at 12:17 pm

Jess xxx says:

Do you think that ‘Planet of the Apes’ could happen, but with wild boar?

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