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USDA outlines feral swine trapping, warns of disease and funding shortfalls
Summary
USDA Wildlife Services briefed mayors on feral pig threats, trapping methods and disease risks and asked the Mayor’s Council to consider a unified funding request after federal territory funding proved insufficient.
Chad Richardson, who supervises the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services feral swine program on Guam, told the Mayor’s Council of Guam on Feb. 5 that feral pigs pose collision, disease and property risks and that the federal and local program funding is insufficient to meet demand.
Richardson described modern corral traps that capture entire sounders and remote-monitoring systems that allow the team to close traps quickly and remove large numbers of pigs. “A pig is a pig is a pig,” Richardson said, summarizing his more than two decades of experience with swine control.
Why it matters: feral pigs damage yards, crops and trash cans, can collide with vehicles and carry zoonotic diseases Richardson said are more prevalent on Guam than on the U.S. mainland. The USDA team is operating a small field staff of three trappers plus a program lead and, when fully funded, removes roughly 1,000 pigs a year; Richardson said the program needs more stable, longer-term funding to expand coverage.
Richardson described partnerships and current funding sources: a federal allocation tied to the national feral swine program for territories, Fish and Wildlife Service money for work at Rotidian (Guam National Wildlife Refuge), and grants from Northern and Southern Soil and Water Conservation Districts. He said the territories currently receive a flat federal appropriation of $125,000 a year for feral swine efforts — an amount he called inadequate to sustain staffing, traps and equipment across the island.
Mayor Jesse Alec urged the council to consider seeking a single appropriation from the legislature to fund the island-wide effort rather than relying on each village’s small budgets. Alec said the feral swine program affects every village and that a centralized request to the governor and legislature would be more effective than piecemeal village funding.
Richardson said he will follow up individually with mayors and bring field staff to meet each village to plan local responses, share maps of hot spots and discuss priorities for trap placement. He asked mayors to consider local contributions that could stabilize staffing and expand response capacity.
Follow-up: the Mayor’s Council agreed to consider a coordinated funding request to the legislature and for USDA Wildlife Services to meet one‑on‑one with villages to refine trapping plans.
