Black Bear Vs. Feral Hog (Video)

A black bear has been captured on video killing a feral hog-close to its own size.

The amazing clip filmed by Phillip Talbot of Old Skull Outdoors shows the boldness of black bears rarely observed by people. Subscribe to his Youtube channel below.

“As an avid hunter, it’s the craziest thing I’ve ever witnessed,” Talbot said.

Listen to this interview with a man attacked by a hog in Texas March 13, 2021!

The USDA’s feralhogs.extension.org information site lists numerous potential hog predators. Their take on bear predation was interesting.

The black bear is known to prey on feral hogs of all ages; however, the impact of predation by this bear on feral hog populations is not known.  Some researchers have speculated that black bears probably kill few if any feral hogs, especially given that an adult hog would represent a formidable adversary for a black bear.  In fact, in the 1920s a feral boar in the Okefenokee Swamp was reported to have killed a black bear in a fight between the two animals.  Similar accounts of feral boars killing bears during fights in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas were reported in the 1880s.

According to USDA officials, predation has little impact on most pig populations, although researchers have documented predation by alligators, black bears, and mountain lions (Sweeney et al. 2003). Indeed, in some specific situations, wild pigs can represent a significant prey item, as Maehr et al. (1990) documented in Florida panthers.

Hunting is the key component of population control in most areas but even that has limited success.

In most areas and populations, the most significant cause of mortality in wild pigs is hunting. However, because of their prolificacy, wild pig populations in good habitats can endure extremely high rates of hunting harvest (Barrett and Pine 1980), and in most cases hunting alone cannot control populations. Bieber and Ruf (2005) estimated that, in good habitat conditions, adult survival would have to be reduced to <10% to counter population growth

In this case, the bear did its part but had to work hard and risk its life to do so.

To read more about black bear predation including on elk click here.

Chester Moore