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In 2015, a warthog was killed at the Chaparral Wildlife Management Area in South Texas.

Houston Chronicle outdoor writer Shannon Tompkins broke the story which revealed there was a growing population of warthogs in the area.

“The Chaparral WMA is in the center of what evidence indicates is a growing, range-expanding, self-sustaining feral population of African warthogs, the first such population on this continent. And that worries state wildlife managers such as Lange, who see the non-native warthogs, which can weigh more than 200 pounds, as having the potential to negatively affect native wildlife and habitat.”

You can read that full story here.

It’s doubtful warthogs will ever reach the level of feral hogs, especially since there are so much hunting pressure in the region, but it is possible a population could linger in the region.

Another Exotic Hog

In 2019, we documented a cousin of the warthog caught near San Antonio. Here’s what we posted.

The Red river hog is a native of West-Central Africa and rarely shies from the thick cover of rainforests.

That makes the fact Steven Anderson caught one in a hog trap west of San Antonio, TX highly strange or at least a bit mysterious. A friend tagged me in this on Facebook and then I reached out to Anderson to see if I could share here at fishgame.com. These unique animals are close kin to the bush pig of Africa and are rare on ranches in the United States.

The Red river hog has a unique look and generally calm captive demeanor make them increasingly popular with zoos and wildlife parks but so far I have not heard of any on exotic hunting ranches in Texas although this is most likely where this particular specimen comes from. At the time of this writing no one had stepped forward and claimed the hog came from their property.

Bengals In Texas

“I think I saw an ocelot. It crossed the road in front of me-just outside of Oklahoma City.”

“What do you think of these game camera photos? Is this a serval or maybe an ocelot?”

“What kind of wild cat species is this? Has something escaped from the zoo?”

These questions and comments, and conversations have increased dramatically over the last 2-3 years.

People have always submitted photos of cats caught on game cameras or cell phones to ask for an evaluation. They are usually to distinguish bobcats versus cougars or people thinking they might have the image of an elusive “black panther”.

I believe I have pretty much closed at least Chapter 1 of the panther issue, and you can read the blog on that topic at fishgame.com.

The phenomenon I mention now is different and I believe it involves a different kind of cat on the American landscape.

Hybrid and designer cat breeds are popular in America.

Everything from the relatively common Bengal cat (originates with Asian leopard cat/domestic hybrid) to savannah cats (serval/domestic hybrid) to designer cats like the ocicat. These cats all look wild, look exotic, and, to a certain extent, are wild and exotic, and they are now entering the woods and wildlands and confusing the public.

Below is a photo sent to me by Amy Chambers of San Patricio, Texas. She thought she might have captured an ocelot on camera, but at closer examination, this is without a doubt a domestic and most likely a Bengal or Bengal hybrid.

Bengal cats come in various colors, sizes and patterns. The basic look mimics the original stock of Asian leopard cat in terms of pattern.

Our Kingdom Zoo Wildlife Center® Bengal “Purity” is what is called a “snow leopard” morph with the white/gray mix and blue eyes. The pattern though is Asian leopard cat or even ocelot-like.

There are even breeders who specifically breed them for the spot pattern close to ocelots or Asian leopard cats and interestingly we discovered one about 20 miles from where this cat was captured on a game camera.

Even though our Bengal is sweet, she has a little wild in her and has incredible jumping abilities and predatory instincts. We never allow her near our birds or small mammals. And she is probably four generations removed from original hybridization.

Savannahs are out there that are half serval and some of them are wild enough in fact that they end up at sanctuaries due to them not being quite as cuddly as some domestic cats.

People allow their cats to go outside. Cats escape houses and pens and, as we know with standard-edition feral cats, they are everywhere.

I believe we will see more of these types of cats in the wild and they will contribute to many people thinking they have seen everything from a long-tailed bobcat to ocelots and leopards.

I will write more on this issue but wanted to get this out there to let people know some of the beautiful, spotted, long-tailed cats they are seeing in the woods may be exotic and even feral but not necessarily wild.

The era of the exotic hybrid cat has begun in the wild areas of America, as I have personally received photos and videos to identify from Texas, Michigan and New York.

We Need Your Help

We would like to document as many unusual exotics free-ranging in Texas as we can. If you think you have a photos or videos of one of these cat, a warthog or anything outside of the typical axis or aoudad exotic email chester@chestermoore.com.