Wild Boar Killed In Utica, Others May Be On The Loose

Utica, NY (WIBX) – Proving there’s nothing boring about Utica…a wild pig might be on the loose.  Another wild boar was shot and killed on Broad Street in Utica.

According to Sgt. Steve Hauck with Utica Police several calls came in yesterday to report sightings of the wild boar, said to be “bigger than a German shepherd.”  Police found the animal, said to be very aggressive, at the intersection of Culver and Broad – near the starting line for the Boilermaker Road Race –  and were forced to shoot it on the spot.  The body was recovered by the Department of Environmental Conservation.  Hauck said it was more than two hundred pounds and had tusks and it was “not anything to mess around with.”

DEC Regional Wildlife Manager Jim Farquhar says feral swine do exist in other parts of the state but this is the first example of anything of its kind in Oneida County.

Additional calls to the Utica Police indicate that two more of the animals may still be on the loose.  Farquhar confirmed that, saying that they have since received calls of at least one more animal in the streets.

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Hauck said although it was “another day in the life,” he has never before encountered a wild boar during his watch on the Utica Police force.  It made for a memorable afternoon.

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Farquhar says the United States Department of Agriculture will test the body to see if it had any diseases, especially any that might be of interest to pig farmers.

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Among the diseases for which they will test is rabies, which Farquhar says is an unlikely possibility.

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Above all, both the DEC and UPD encourage folks to call police if they spot wild boar. They can be extremely dangerous.

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