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Officials are concerned because boars and feral pigs can multiply rapidly, spread diseases to wild and domestic animals and are destructive to the landscape. Wisconsin, which has feral pigs, asks hunters to shoot them on sight.
Until now, wild boars had not been spotted in Minnesota.
Earl Johnson, Department of Natural Resources wildlife manager in Detroit Lakes, says wild boars root up vegetation and tear up the woods, opening it to erosion.
Johnson says the boars also can damage habitat for deer, turkey and ruffed grouse, and will eat and destroy crops and gardens.
He says even if there is only one wild boar, it could breed with domestic pigs, producing wild hybrids.
