The Missouri Department of Conservation is making headway in its fight against invasive feral hogs in southeastern Missouri.
The MDC has eradicated 165 hogs in Reynolds, Iron, Wayne, Stoddard and Ripley Counties. Private landowners have captured an additional six hogs.
Forty-seven hogs were eliminated during four helicopter flights at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, Johnson Shut-Ins, Sam A. Baker and Black Island Conservation Area.
Releasing hogs and hunting them are both illegal activities, though the MDC notes that people continue to release hogs for hunting purposes in southeastern Missouri and the Ozarks.
Feral hogs damage crops, land, woods, ponds, springs and streams. They produce soil erosion and water quality problems, can carry up to thirty-two diseases, and directly compete with wildlife for food resources, according to the MDC.