Scientist Makes Wild Claim that Feral Hogs are Good for Missouri

I consider myself a natural-born skeptic and a new scientific paper won't be changing that outlook anytime soon. It makes a wild claim that feral hogs are actually good for Missouri.

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I saw this brand new study that was just shared by The Hill. It's based on a new scientific paper entitled "Functional traits—not nativeness—shape the effects of large mammalian herbivores on plant communities". Translation? Feral hogs are good for Missouri's ecosystem and Missouri's opposition to them is wrong. Before I debate their conclusion, let's understand what they're saying.

To the credit of this scientific paper, they put a lot of data into this study using "a meta-analysis of 3995 plot-scale plant abundance and diversity responses from 221 studies, we found no evidence that megafauna impacts were shaped by nativeness, “invasiveness,” “feralness,” coevolutionary history, or functional and phylogenetic novelty".

I recommend reading their entire study if you find this interesting, but I'll sum it up in layman's terms. They are saying the feral hog population in Missouri helps the ecosystem because they disperse seeds when they consume vegetation.

This just in. Missouri does NOT agree with their feral hog conclusion.

While the state of Missouri does not encourage citizens to shoot them, they do want them reported (so they can shoot them) due to what they describe is "spreading disease, competition with native wildlife plus financial and habitat loss".

Missouri also mentions that feral hogs have shown aggressiveness toward humans. They want you to do this if you spot feral hogs:

To report feral hogs, call 1-573-522-4115 extension 3296, or report online here.

I understand what the scientific paper is asserting, but I don't expect this is going to change the view of Missouri that feral hogs are a dangerous nuisance that they want to get rid of ASAP.