Concern Over Wild Hogs Expressed By Forest Official

BARDSTOWN, Ky. (AP) - The operations director of Bernheim Forest says he's concerned about wild hogs in the Arboretum and Research facility in north-central Kentucky.

Operations Director Roger Fauver says there may be as many as 100 hogs and many of them are now being seen on neighboring farms. Fauver says the hogs could return to Bernheim this fall to search for acorns and other food. Bernheim is in Bullitt County, some 13 miles southeast of Bardstown, the Nelson County seat.

Fauver says the hogs are very destructive and there's concern about diseases they could possibly carry. He says the feral hogs are usually not aggressive, but are elusive.

The hogs were first noticed at Bernheim last November, when scattered wallows and evidence of their rooting were discovered over a 600-acre section of the 14,000-acre forest. The USDA was called in and specialists estimate that the herd at Bernheim at that time might have numbered as many as 60 animals, with others scattered over adjacent private forest lands.

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