A 59-year-old Texan woman has died after being assaulted by feral hogs, in what the county sheriff described as “one of the worst cases I’ve ever seen”.
Christine Marie Rollins, a healthcare worker in Anahuac (near Houston), arrived to look after an 84-year-old patient who she had been caring for almost two years when she was attacked in the early hours of the morning.
Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said he would not go into the details of the incident but said he was disturbed by the attack. In a statement, he said: “This is an unbelievably tragic, a very rare incident. In my 35 years I will tell you it’s one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.”
An autopsy determined she had died from exsanguination –
bleeding to death – due to feral hog assault. Hawthorne said that bites and bruises of varying sizes made it clear that multiple animals were involved in the attack. He said the pigs had taken over some of the pasture and woods of the family land.
The issue of feral hogs in the U.S. has been bubbling under the surface for some time. In August, self-proclaimed libertarian William McNabb became a viral sensation when he waded into the debate on gun reform by posing the question: “How do I kill the 30-50 feral hogs that run into my yard within 3-5 minutes of my kids while they play?” Multiple news outlets – including the Guardian – raced to see how much of an issue wild hogs really are in the US.
According to the US Department of Agriculture
(USDA), there are about 5 million feral hogs in the U.S., half of which
are in Texas. They cause billions in damage every year, destroying local
wildlife and native habitats, and threatening locals. However, the USDA does not recommend shooting as a method to control groups of the pigs, which can weigh between 100 and 400 pounds.
Sheriff Hawthorne said there have been six deaths by
feral hogs reported in U.S. history. A University of Nebraska paper from
2013 put the total number of wild hog killings in U.S. history at four.
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