'Judas pigs': The gruesome tactic hunters are using to tame feral hog populations

Wild hogs are estimated to cost $1.5 billion in damages every single year

Feral pigs
(Image credit: AP Photo/Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services)

The United States has a pork problem, and it isn't a bacon shortage.

Feral pig populations have exploded in recent years, with an estimated 5 million wild hogs causing $1.5 billion in damages annually. The massive, tusked creatures have been known to terrorize both people and pets, and possess a "remarkable knack for causing trouble," says LiveScience, "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."

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Chris Gayomali is the science and technology editor for TheWeek.com. Previously, he was a tech reporter at TIME. His work has also appeared in Men's Journal, Esquire, and The Atlantic, among other places. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.