Air balloon solution to ‘hog apocalypse’

HUNTERS in Texas could soon be allowed to shoot wild boar from the skies using hot air balloons in a bid to stop the rampant animals uprooting lawns and destroying grave stones.

Furious Texans claim the beasts cause up to $50million (£39million) in damage each year and attempts to control the population with poison have failed.

“We’ve got a problem here and we are willing to fix it ourselves,” Mark Keough, state representative, told the Texas Observer newspaper. “We have that Western, swashbuckling, cowboying type of way to deal with things. It’s part of the culture, it’s different than any other state.”

The air balloon proposals were approved by the Senate last Wednesday and must now be signed off by Greg Abbott, the state governor.

It is already legal to shoot wild boars while riding helicopters in Texas, provided the hunter has a licence, but officials have long been searching for a more stealthy alternative.

Hot air balloons, which make far less noise than helicopters, would allow them to sneak up on the state’s estimated two million wild boar.

They are also more stable, allowing hunters to carefully

‘It’s far safer than if you were hunting out of a helicopter’

line up their shots instead of struggling to hold their aim in a shaky helicopter.

Mr Keough said using helicopters to stalk prey “had a lot of safety issues,” and hoped this new approach would outwit the “smart” animals.

“I haven’t found people anywhere doing this,” he said. “It’s far safer than if you were hunting out of a helicopter.”

It is the second time this year that officials in the state have sought a novel approach to what locals call the “hog apocalypse”.

In February, the state announced plans to poison the animals with warfarin, which causes a slow and painful death when consumed by livestock.

There was an immediate backlash from animal rights groups and concerns that hunters who unwittingly shot a poisoned hog and took it home for dinner could endanger the health of their families.

The number of wild boar in Texas has exploded due to a lack of natural predators and their ability to breed rapidly.

“They are uprooting tombstones in cemeteries, they are damaging golf courses, city parks and suburban lawns,” said Sid Miller, the Texas agriculture commissioner who proposed the new law.