A wild boar invasion has wreaked havoc on a California school, causing more than $150,000 worth of damage.
Geyserville New Tech Academy in northern Sonoma County was attacked by animals that tore up grass across the campus.
The wild boars managed to dig holes in the ground more than six inches deep, forcing officials to set up barricades around the site.
Images captured by the Democratic Press revealing the devastation caused by the animals, with areas of grass completely destroyed.
So far, those responsible have eluded authorities. But Geyserville Unified School District Superintendent Deborah Bertolucci said Gate of Saint Francis They had seen six.
The wild boars managed to dig holes in the ground more than six inches deep, forcing officials to set up barricades around the disaster.
Images captured by the Press Democrat reveal the devastation caused by the animals, with areas of grass completely destroyed.
According to Bertolucci, the damage to the campus was caused by two adult wild boars and four juveniles.
She said: ‘At first, I thought my maintenance crew was fixing our sprinklers. Then I realized it was the pigs. It’s crazy.
Jason Lish, the school’s facilities maintenance supervisor, told the Press Democrat that a trapper has been hired to detain the animals.
He said: ‘The only good thing about all this is that they found the manhole cover I was looking for.’
The animals have frequently plagued the middle and high school, destroying its football, baseball and softball fields last year.
Bertolucci said the damage “caused a lot of chaos in our sports programs” and a $50,000 chain-link fence was erected to keep the animals out.
Despite the fence, the animals resorted to tearing up grass in other parts of the campus, concentrating at the main entrance.
Bertolucci added: “The pigs just decided to attack other parts of our campus,” digging up a school garden where students had been planting roses.
The garden was supposed to help restore native habitat and attract pollinators, but all it did was attract wild pigs.
According to the outlet, the wild pig population has increased in the state and they live in 56 of California’s 58 counties.
Wild pigs graze along a hiking trail at the Richland Creek Wildlife Management Area in Texas.
The Golden State isn’t alone in grappling with this problem, as officials across the country are warning of a “feral hog bomb” due to the massive increase in their numbers.
Wild pigs They have already been spotted in at least 35 states and are destroying farmers’ crops, wrecking gardens and, in some cases, even attacking humans.
Craig Greene, an experienced game hunter, recalled a terrifying encounter with wild pigs in 2008.
He described how he hid in his own 3-foot-high cage, knowing there was no one around to save him, until they eventually fled and he was able to escape.
“I know that when they kill you, they will eat you while you scream,” he said. “I’d rather be eaten by an alligator.”
Wild pig attacks are relatively rare but still outnumber shark attacks of all species combined, research has shown.
In 1982, feral hog populations were located primarily in Florida, Texas, and parts of California.
But by 2023, wild pigs will have completely colonized the southern United States, along with California.
Between 2014 and 2023, there were an average of 5.8 fatal shark attacks worldwide, compared to 19.7 wild pig attacks. As reported by AgWeb.
In 2024 alone, there have already been seven deaths globally from incidents involving wild pigs, the outlet added, revealing that the number of humans killed had risen steadily from 2000 to 2019 to a total of 172 deaths.
Dr. John Mayer, a research scientist and manager at the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina, told AgWeb: ‘Tigers, Indian elephants, Nile crocodiles and venomous snakes kill more people than wild pigs, but wild pigs are certainly worse than bears, wolves and all shark species combined.
“Wild pigs are by no means the worst of the worst, but they are far more dangerous than people think,” he added, describing the horrific “stab and cut” wounds inflicted by the boars.
In 2019, a 59-year-old Texas caregiver was mauled to death by a pack of wild pigs while outside the home of the elderly couple she cares for, before being partially eaten.
And the potential for dangerous encounters between pigs and humans will increase as land animals that used to have free rein develop.
The pigs currently exist in all 67 counties in Florida and cause the greatest damage in the inland areas of central Florida.
Feral hogs also have the potential to ruin the U.S. pork industry, which supports more than 600,000 American jobs and generates $178 billion in sales annually, according to the National Council of Pork Producers.
Animals in Asia have been spreading a deadly disease for pigs called African swine fever. After it was first reported in northeast China in August 2018, it caused the deaths of more than a million pigs, according to the Reuters.
Experts warn that if this disease were to cross the ocean to the United States, it would have a devastating effect.