Original Article Stakeholder Attitudes and Beliefs Toward Wild Pigs in Georgia and Illinois ERIN E. HARPER, Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA CRAIG A. MILLER, 1 Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL 61820, USA JERRY J. VASKE, Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA MICHAEL T. MENGAK, Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA SUSAN BRUNO, Forks, WA 98331, USA ABSTRACT A variety of problems are associated with wild pigs (Sus scrofa; e.g., crop damage, habitat destruction, transfer of infectious diseases to livestock). We contrasted stakeholder attitudes and beliefs toward wild pigs in 2 U.S. states: 1 with a long-established, widespread population of wild pigs (GA) and 1 with a recently established limited population (IL). We conducted mail surveys of farmers in the Southwest Cooperative Extension Service District in Georgia during January–February 2012 (n ¼ 471, response rate ¼ 39%) and Illinois farmers (n ¼ 3,035, response rate ¼ 58%) during July–September 2013. The surveys included 4 positive items (e.g., I enjoy seeing feral hogs around my property) and 3 negative statements (e.g., Feral hogs should be eliminated where ever possible). Survey participants in both states generally agreed with the negative statements about wild pigs and disagreed with positive aspects regarding wild pigs. In general, the level of consensus for these statements was similar for both states. These findings suggest farmers in a state with low populations of wild pigs (IL) shared beliefs and attitudes with farmers in a state with a long- standing wild pig populations (GA). Ó 2016 The Wildlife Society. KEY WORDS attitudes, farmers, feral pig, Georgia, Illinois, PCI 2 , Sus scrofa, wild pig damage. Invasive nonnative species are a threat to biological diversity and can cause agricultural, pasture, and forestry losses (Convention on Biological Diversity 2015). Attitudes toward invasive nonnative species are influenced by potential economic losses or gains (Wang et al. 2006). Stakeholders have supported control or eradication of invasive species because of potential threats associated with them (Bremner and Park 2007). Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are considered an invasive, nonnative, and nuisance species (Li et al. 2010, SEAFWA 2014). Attitudes toward wild pigs are often negative regardless of the damage they cause (Adams et al. 2005, Li et al. 2010, SEAFWA 2014). For example, among Mississippi, USA, agricultural producers, 68% held negative attitudes toward wild pigs even though few respondents had experienced any damage (Fogarty 2007). Once largely confined to southern United States (Wood and Lynn 1977), wild pig populations have spread and are now present in 42 states (Elsey et al. 2012, USDA-APHIS 2013, Bevins et al. 2014). The spread of wild pigs across the United States has become a concern because of the damage they cause. Wild pigs can have an ecological impact by wallowing, rooting, and feeding; these actions increase soil erosion, degrade water quality, and damage or destroy agriculture and forest crops (Campbell and Long 2009, SEAFWA 2014). Further effects result from pig predation of wildlife, including ground-nesting birds (e.g., wild turkeys [Meleagris gallopavo]), reptiles, amphibians, small mammals, and the young of larger mammals (e.g., white-tailed deer [Odocoileus virginianus]; Beach 1993, Tolleson et al. 1993, Taylor and Hellgren 1997). Other problems include competition with wildlife for food and carrying diseases harmful to humans, pets, wildlife, and livestock (Wood and Lynn 1977, Beach 1993, Hutton et al. 2006, Schley et al. 2008). Distribution and size of wild pig populations varies among states; Georgia and Illinois provide contrasting examples in the United States. In Georgia, wild pigs have been reported for approximately 450 years and populations were established by 1900 (Moore 1840, Kemble 1863, Wood and Lynn 1977). Wild pigs were found in 74 of 159 Georgia counties in 1982 (Southeast Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study 1982). Since then their distribution has steadily grown and wild pigs are now in 147 counties in Georgia (Southeastern Disease Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study 2015). In contrast, wild pigs were first reported in Illinois during the early 1990s. At the time of this study, distribution was limited to 4 populations found in <12 of 102 counties in Illinois (T. Esker, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, personal communication). Received: 25 June 2015; Accepted: 6 February 2016 Published: 27 April 2016 1 E-mail: craigm@illinois.edu Wildlife Society Bulletin 40(2):269–273; 2016; DOI: 10.1002/wsb.653 Harper et al.  Attitudes Toward Wild Pigs in Georgia and Illinois 269