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Feral Pigs Going Hog-Wild in US

This wild boar is a real porker. Although they’re the wild ancestor of domesticated pigs, these guys, Sus scrofa, are much grumpier and can become aggressive if cornered.

Feral pigs are becoming a wild problem in the United States.

The wild hogs can now be found in three-fourths of U.S. states — and their populations are growing in many areas — and are estimated to cause $1.5 billion in damages each year, the Associated Press reports. There are currently more than 5 million wild hogs in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

By all accounts, the animals are quite intelligent. They also sport razor-sharp tusks and can be aggressive toward people and pets. They have a remarkable knack for causing trouble, ranging from eating threatened species like dune lizards and spreading invasive weeds to carrying and transmitting more than 30 different kinds of diseases to humans, livestock and other wildlife, according to the AP. Feral pigs’ habit of digging and rooting around in the ground also tears up gardens and crop fields, and creates holes in roads that serve as hazards for cars and tractors.

$1 million hunt

But the state of New Mexico isn't letting the pigs get away with those antics. The state recently partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a $1 million project to hunt, trap and kill the animals. The plan is to hit the animals in a single coordinated effort, because the pigs are so smart that they can learn from failed efforts to trap them and avoid the snares in the future.

"They're much brighter than I am," Ray Powell, a veterinarian and New Mexico's land commissioner, told the AP. "If they had the dexterity, they'd be driving vehicles around. I mean these guys are really smart."

Hunters will also employ a "Judas pig." After finding and killing a hog family, officials will intentionally leave one pig alive — usually, an adult female. This "Judas pig" will then be outfitted with a tracking collar in order to lead state officials to a new set of pigs, which the surviving hog will seek out, the AP reports. [Image Gallery: The Most Destructive Invasive Species]

Multiplying hogs

Texas may have the most wild hogs of any U.S. state, and the situation is expected to worsen, despite the $7 million per year that Texans spends to keep the animals' numbers down, the AP reports. A recent study by Texas A&M University found that the number of feral pigs is likely to triple in five years in the state of Texas if serious efforts aren't made to reduce feral-pig populations, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

"If a feral-hog sow produces a dozen piglets, 13 survive," goes an old joke, according to the Avalanche-Journal. But feral-pig reproduction is no laughing matter. The animals may start reproducing when they’re just 6 months old, and their litters average about six sows, reports Mississippi State University. They produce an average of 1.5 litters per year.

Feral pigs were introduced to North America in the 1500s by Spanish explorers and were used for hunting. In the wild, they can grow to be up to 300 pounds (136 kilograms) or more, according to U.S. government figures. Not one to shy away from controversy (or porcine genocide), the rock musician Ted Nugent killed 455 wild hogs in a recent hunting expedition in Texas. "I did it for Bill Maher and all those other animal-rights freaks out there," Nugent said, according to Mlive.com. He allegedly donated the meat to the homeless.

Email Douglas Main or follow him @Douglas_Main. Follow us @livescience, Facebook or Google+. Article originally on LiveScience.com.

Yugoslav wars left population heavily armed

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The wars from 1991 to 1999 as Yugoslavia broke up took up to 200,000 lives, turned millions into refugees and left much of the region's people traumatized and heavily armed. It was the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II.

The millions of weapons that remained in possession of civilians after the fighting have caused fatalities every week, as traumatized former soldiers either shoot family members or commit suicide or children find guns at home and die while playing with them.

All of the seven new countries that emerged have banned civilians from owning weapons with varying degrees of success.

SERBIA

Serbia has about three million weapons owned by civilians, according to the Small Arms Survey, a nongovernmental organization from Switzerland. It says Serbia has the fifth-highest number of weapons per capita in the world, with some 38 firearms for every 100 people.

In contrast, the U.S. has 88.8 weapons per 100 people and leads the list worldwide, with Yemen second at 54.8 arms per 100 people. England and Wales are low down on the list with 6.2 weapons per 100 people.

Serbian gun laws were tightened several years ago when authorities proposed an amnesty for all those with illegal weapons. Heavy weapons like mortar launchers that were handed over were impounded, but small arms were allowed, with owners required to get a license and pay taxes on them.

In recent years there have been several incidents where hand grenades were activated during minor arguments, including one last year when four people were killed when they were refused entry into a bar in northern Serbia.

On Tuesday, police said a 60-year-old veteran gunned down 13 people in a house-to-house rampage in a Serbian village. The motive for that was unknown.

MACEDONIA

Macedonia takes second place in the region, with approximately 24 weapons per 100 people, according to the Small Arms Survey. Authorities have introduced voluntary firearm surrender schemes and weapons seizures to reduce the number of illegal guns, collecting tens of thousands.

MONTENEGRO

Montenegrins have 23 guns for every 100 people, according to Small Arms Survey. Automatic andsemi-automatic weapons are prohibited for civilians and handguns are only permitted with licenses. Authorities have confiscated weapons and held voluntary firearm surrender programs, collecting tens of thousands of illicit weapons.

CROATIA

Civilians are not allowed to possess any automatic or semi-automatic weapons, while handguns are only permitted with licenses. Still, according to the Small Arms Survey, there's almost 22 weapons for every 100 people. Additionally, Croatia, like Bosnia, has a severe land mine problem. The Croatian Mine Action Center says the country is contaminated with over 90,000 land mines. Clearing them has been slow and costly.

KOSOVO

Kosovo's government has banned civilians from owning weapons and introduced programs to encourage people to hand over guns voluntarily, but there's still 19.5 weapons for every 100 people, the Small Arms Survey says. The law foresees up to five years in prison if caught owning an illegal weapon but enforcement has been lax. Kosovo Police have held TV campaigns with NATO peacekeepers to encourage people to hand over their guns.

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

The 1992-95 Bosnian war was the bloodiest of all the conflicts that erupted after Yugoslavia's breakup. When it ended, most of Bosnia's citizens were armed but the government declared that all weapons owned by civilians were illegal and offered amnesty to those who surrendered them. A public awareness campaign also pointed out how dangerous weapons can be for children. Tens of thousands brought their weapons to police stations or handed them over to NATO peacekeepers every year.

The Small Arms Survey says the country has 17 weapons for every 100 people. A former soldier once shot his wife with a bazooka after a domestic dispute.

Bosnia is also the most landmine-contaminated nation in the region, with an estimated 120,000 still dotting the country.

SLOVENIA

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows smoke rising from burned cars after a huge explosion shook the Sabaa Bahrat Square, one of the capital's biggest roundabouts, in Damascus, Syria, Monday, April. 8, 2013. A car bomb rocked a busy residential and commercial district in central Damascus on Monday, killing more than a dozen with many more injured and sending a huge cloud of black smoke billowing over the capital’s skyline, Syrian state-run media said. (AP Photo/SANA)

BEIRUT (AP) — Al-Qaida's branch in Iraq said it has merged withSyria's extremist Jabhat al-Nusra, a move that shows the rising confidence of radicals within the Syrian rebel movement and is likely to trigger renewed fears among its international backers.

A website linked to Jabhat al-Nusra confirmed on Tuesday the merger with the Islamic State of Iraq, whose leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, first made the announcement in a 21-minute audio message posted on militant websites late Monday.

Jabhat al-Nusra has taken an ever-bigger role in Syria's conflict over the last year, fighting in key battles and staging several large suicide bombings. The U.S. has designated it a terrorist organization.

The Syrian group has made little secret of its links across the Iraqi border, but until now it has not officially declared itself to be part of al-Qaida.

Al-Baghdadi said that his group — the Islamic State of Iraq — and Syria's Jabhat al-Nusra will now be known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

"It is time to announce to the Levantine people and the whole world that Jabhat al-Nusra is merely an extension and part of the Islamic State of Iraq," he said.

He said that the Iraqi group was providing half of its budget to the conflict in Syria. Al-Baghdadi said that the Syrian group would have no separate leader but instead be led by the "people of Syria themselves" — implying that he would be in charge in both countries.

The formal merger of such a high-profile Syrian rebel group to al-Qaida is likely to spark concerns among backers of the opposition who are enemies of the global terror network, including both Western countries and Gulf Arab states.

It may increase resentment of Jabhat al-Nusra among other rebel factions. Rebels have until now respected the radical group's fighters for their prowess on the battlefield, but a merger with al-Qaida will complicate any effort to send arms to rebels from abroad.

A website linked to Jabhat al-Nusra known as al-Muhajir al-Islami — the Islamic emigrant — confirmed the merger.

The authenticity of neither message could be independently confirmed, but statements posted on major militant websites are rarely disputed by extremist groups afterward.

Jabhat al-Nusra emerged as an offshoot of Iraq's al-Qaida branch in early 2012, as one of a patchwork of disparate rebel groups in Syria.

One of the most dramatic attacks by the group came on March 4, when 48 Syrian soldiers were killed in a well-coordinated ambush after seeking refuge across the frontier in Iraq following clashes with rebels on the Syrian side of the border. The attack occurred in Iraq's restive western province of Anbar, where al-Qaida is known to be active.

A top Iraqi intelligence official told The Associated Press in Baghdad that they have always known that "al-Qaida in Iraq is directing Jabhat al-Nusra."

He said they announced their unity because of "political, logistical and geographical circumstance." The official said Iraqi authorities will take "strict security measures to strike them."

In an editorial published Tuesday in the Washington Post, Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned that a "Syria controlled in whole or part by al-Qaeda and its affiliates — an outcome that grows more likely by the day — would be more dangerous to both our countries than anything we've seen up to now."

Iraqi officials say the jihadi groups are sharing three military training compounds, logistics, intelligence and weapons as they grow in strength around the Syria-Iraq border, particularly in a sprawling region called al-Jazeera, which they are trying to turn into a border sanctuary they can both exploit. It could serve as a base of operations to strike either side of the border.

Baghdad officials said last week they have requested U.S. drone strikes against the fighters in Iraqi territory. A U.S. official confirmed that elements within the Iraqi government had inquired about drone strikes. But the official said the U.S. was waiting to respond until the top level of Iraqi leadership makes a formal request, which has not happened yet.

All officials spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to give official statements to the media.

Eastern Syria and western Iraq have a predominantly Sunni Muslim population like most of the rebels fighting President Bashar Assad, who belongs to the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. The Baghdad government is dominated by Shiites, who are a majority in Iraq.

The announcement came hours after a suicide car bomber struck Monday in the financial heart of Syria's capital, killing at least 15 people, damaging the nearby central bank.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack but such operations were claimed by Jabhat al-Nusra in the past.

State-run Al-Ikhbariyeh TV station quoted Central Bank Governor Adib Mayaleh as saying the bank returned to work as usual at 1 p.m. Tuesday (1000 GMT) "despite the destruction" caused by the bombing.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry sent two letters to the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council protesting the Damascus explosion, blaming "terrorists" who "receive financial and logistic support from regional states and other foreign nations."

The Syrian National Coalition, the country's main opposition group, blamed Assad's regime for the bombing, saying "the intent is clearly to terrorize the people." It said the area where the explosion occurred is heavily-guarded.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, activists reported violence in different parts of Syria.

State-run news agency SANA said one person was killed and two others wounded when mortar shells struck the upscale Damascus district of Kafar Souseh. Two other mortars crashed on the roofs of residential buildings in the al-Qassaa district, causing material damage but no casualties.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported air raids on suburbs of the capital Damascus as well as the northern province of Raqqa and Idlib.

The Observatory said that Ali Matar, a local rebel commander in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, was shot dead in the eastern city of Mayadeen. It did not say who was behind the attack but added that some of his guards were wounded in the shooting.

Syria's crisis, which began in March 2011 with protests calling for Assad's ouster, then evolved into a civil war. The U.N. says more than 70,000 have been killed in the conflict.

_____

Youssef reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report from Baghdad.