Numbers expected to increase quickly

By Ed Zieralski, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 12, 2008

John Cassidy was close enough at El Capitan Reservoir to take a picture of them. Scott Rushing motored up on them at the shoreline, getting a clear view of a couple of 125-to 150-pounders.

Those wild hogs that have been rumored to be rooting around behind El Capitan are real and apparently multiplying in the San Diego River watershed north of the Lakeside reservoir.

Cassidy, owner of Angler’s Arsenal, sent in a photo this week of a herd of wild pigs, including a boar with tusks, on the shoreline at El Cap.

Brad Rushing, acting division chief of the Alpine Fire District, reports that his father was fishing in the north end of the reservoir and got to within 25 yards of two heavy hogs.

Joe Weber, the city of San Diego’s lakes program manager, said he had not heard of any reports of wild pigs wandering in the watershed of El Capitan. Wild turkeys, yes, even a goat that likely escaped from a nearby farm and now works the rocky shoreline. But no pigs.

Fishermen and others say differently.

Wild pigs have been in California since the early 1700s, when Russian and Spanish settlers introduced them. Places such as Tejon Ranch have been overrun by hogs to the point the ranch game manager offers generous hunts every year. State regulations define a wild pig as “free-roaming pigs not distinguished by branding, ear marking, or other permanent identification methods.”
In 2006-07, the state sold 54,607 tags to hunt pigs. The state received 4,570 tags back from hunters, representing an 8 percent kill rate.

This San Diego County population, if it continues to grow, is a result of a release more than two years ago of as many as 20 pigs - a mix of Russian boars, sows and piglets. A source who once saw the hogs in pens was told they were released to establish a hog hunting program on the Capitan Grande Indian Reservation.

Back then, former Julian-based DFG warden Erick Elliott had fielded reports of a possible release of pigs. With the area being the sovereign land of an American Indian reservation, he said there’s nothing the federal or state governments can do about it. Tribes set their own game laws.

These hogs aren’t expected to stay in one place. It won’t be long before they expand their range up Boulder Creek and into the Julian area.

The Capitan Grande Indian Reservation also connects with Cleveland National Forest land, which adjoins Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.

The San Diego River, which runs into El Capitan Reservoir at the north end after collecting water from creeks such as Cedar, Ritchie and Boulder, stretches into Julian and game-rich lands around Eagle Peak. It is the same habitat that has allowed the county’s ever-growing wild turkey population to reach its current size.

Wild hogs can be hunted here year-round. Hunters must have a hunting license and a pig tag, which costs $18.65 for residents, $62.20 for nonresidents. There is no limit to the number of pig tags hunters may buy.

Last year, Doug Updike, the DFG’s senior wildlife biologist who oversees the agency’s programs for wild pigs, bears and mountain lions, said 15 to 20 Russian hogs would be enough to establish a huntable population in the San Diego backcountry.

“They’re very productive, and they can start producing piglets when they’re less than 1 year old,” Updike said. “They can have a couple litters a year, depending on the habitat and water sources. And the litters can be as many as 12 to 15 piglets if there’s lots of food and water.”

The pigs could pose a significant problem for some native plants.

Updike said the average California wild pig weighs 200 to 300 pounds for trophy boars, with sows going 100 to 200 pounds. He said hunters tend to keep wild pig populations under control, but wild pigs tend to gravitate to areas where they aren’t hunted or where hunting is prohibited. That would make Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, upstream from El Capitan, a perfect sanctuary.

“This could be good for some and bad for others,” Updike said last year. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

Ed Zieralski: (619) 293-1225; ed.zieralski@uniontrib.com
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Posted on September 12th, 2008 by hunwut
Filed under: Environment, Reservations