Wildlife officials capture African warthog north of Fort Pierce

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — African warthogs roam free in the wild of the sub-Sahara.

They're not supposed to do that in the subdivisions of Lakewood Park, however.

For several days last month, the tusky pig wandered through woods and yards on Belleair and Brookline Avenues in northern St. Lucie County, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said. Wildlife officials were first notified about the creature on March 4.

African warthogs are nonnative to Florida, FWC spokeswoman Carol Lyn Parrish said. In order for someone to own one, they would need a captive wildlife license approved by the state, she said. However, they couldn't find anyone on the Treasure Coast who had a license to own such a creature, she said.

"We couldn't locate the owner," Parrish said.

Residents said the warthog wasn't afraid of people and was friendly when offered food. But it still posed a danger because it could have carried diseases that would impact other animals, Parrish said.

Wildlife officials set up a trap to capture the warthog. They couldn't find it when they searched March 5. They returned with a trap baited with food on March 8. When they returned the next day, the food was gone and there was no sign of the warthog, the report states.

FWC officials spotted the warthog that afternoon and used a rope snare and more food to try to capture it. Several attempts failed. FWC Officer Bradley Toby had to tackle the warthog while a biologist brought over a trap to guide the creature into it, he said in his report.

Toby had some cuts to his legs for the effort.

Veterinarians for FWC chose to euthanize the warthog because they wanted to examine the carcass for disease, Parrish said.

"Because of its unknown source, staff were concerned about disease transmission," she said.

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Stancil is a breaking news reporter for FLORIDA TODAY and TCPalm.

Contact Stancil at 321-242-3662 or 321-987-7179

or lamaur.stancil@tcpalm.com.

Twitter: @TCPalmLStancil

