Two people were killed and one person was seriously injured after a group of wild pigs caused a head-on collision in Jim Wells County, Texas, on Oct. 24.
Criselda Ramirez, 20, and Crystal Botello, 30, were killed on Tuesday after Ramirez swerved to avoid striking a group of wild pigs in the road, reports Channel 3 News in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Ramirez hit several of the pigs before swerving into the northbound lane where she struck a 2017 Dodge Rebel Ram 1500 with Libardo Carillo III and Darion Jane Almedia and a 3-year-old child. Carillo was ejected from the vehicle and HALO-flighted to Bay Area Hospital with serious injuries, Channel 3 reports.
Almedia and the child suffered minor injuries and were transported to Christus Spohn Hospital in Alice, Texas.
The accident is under investigation, the article said.
Wild pig populations continue to wreak havoc in parts of the U.S. From 1982 to 2016, the wild pig population in the U.S. increased from 2.4 million to an estimated 6.9 million, with 2.6 million estimated to be residing in Texas alone.
“It was told to me many years ago, wild pigs are a sport utility vehicle for disease and parasites. They move them across the landscape. Really no good comes with them once they move into an area,” Jim LaCour, DVM, Louisiana state wildlife veterinarian, said in the latest episode of “Feral Swine in America,” which investigates the damage feral swine inflict.
Read More About the Wild Pig Problem:
A Sport Utility Vehicle for Disease: Wild Pigs Wreak Havoc
Is Missouri’s Feral Hog Population on the Decline?
Feral Swine Eradication Program Should Be Permanent, Senators Urge
Destructive, Formidable, Invasive: How is the U.S. Managing the Feral Hog Population?
Feral Swine Test Positive for Pseudorabies at Colorado Farm
