USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA.
USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services, National Feral Swine Damage Management Program, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA.
J Anim Sci. 2024 Jan 3;102. doi: 10.1093/jas/skae278.
Feral swine are a highly destructive invasive species around the globe. Wildlife managers commonly trap and euthanize feral swine with firearms to reduce their adverse impacts. The utility of euthanizing domestic swine with firearms has been considered when emergency situations arise such as in the event of a foreign animal disease outbreak in domestic swine. Similarly, the rapid depopulation of domestic swine facilities became necessary when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted pork production in 2020. Evaluation of the effects of caliber, cartridge, size of feral swine, and shot placement on effectiveness and safety of the method is needed. We collected data from feral swine euthanized in traps on how those variables influenced the effectiveness in time to death and number of shots required and safety risks based on the occurrence of bullet pass-through (i.e., bullet exiting the pig). We tested 3 cartridges of 2 calibers (0.22 long rifle, 0.22 Winchester magnum rimfire, and 0.308 Winchester) delivered from a rifle with 3 shot placements targeting the brain. From 570 euthanization events, we calculated an average time to death of 100.06 (SD = 29.24) s, with larger feral swine taking slightly longer. Most feral swine (73%) were euthanized with a single shot but averaged 1.28 (SD = 0.48) shots overall. Safety risks from pass-through shots were more common when using the 0.308 Winchester cartridge, and when rear and side shot placements were used. Overall, we recommend a 0.22 long rifle cartridge and frontal shot placement as an effective and safe option for euthanizing feral swine in traps, and likely for domestic swine of similar size and shot distances.
野猪是全球极具破坏性的入侵物种。野生动物管理人员通常使用枪支诱捕和安乐死野猪，以减少其负面影响。在发生外来动物疾病暴发等紧急情况时，已经考虑过使用枪支安乐死家猪，例如在 2020 年 COVID-19 大流行扰乱猪肉生产期间。同样，当国内养猪场的猪迅速减少时，也需要迅速采取行动。需要评估口径、弹药、野猪大小和射击位置对该方法效果和安全性的影响。我们从诱捕器中安乐死的野猪身上收集数据，研究这些变量如何影响致死时间、所需射击次数以及基于子弹穿透（即子弹离开猪）的安全风险。我们测试了 3 种口径（0.22 长步枪、0.22 温彻斯特马格南边缘发火和 0.308 温彻斯特）的 3 种弹药，从一支步枪上以 3 个射击位置瞄准大脑。在 570 次安乐死事件中，我们计算出平均死亡时间为 100.06（SD=29.24）秒，体型较大的野猪需要的时间略长。大多数野猪（73%）只用一枪就安乐死，但总共平均需要 1.28（SD=0.48）发子弹。使用 0.308 温彻斯特弹药和使用后膛和侧面射击位置时，子弹穿透造成的安全风险更为常见。总体而言，我们建议在诱捕器中使用 0.22 长步枪弹药和正面射击位置，作为一种有效和安全的方法来安乐死野猪，对于类似大小和射击距离的家猪也可能适用。
