Too bad for the big bad wolf but it appears hunters defeated the
three feral pigs that roamed Allegany State Park after all.

On Thursday, Allegany State Park and New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation officials said a law enforcement
officer from the Seneca Nation of Indians discovered the remains of
two pigs in the Town of Carrollton in late October.

Ken Baginski, wildlife biologist with the DEC, said the pigs’
remains, including the heads, spines and hides, were found on the
side of a road just outside of Limestone, N.Y. He added that it
appeared the pigs had been shot and later butchered.

In early November, The Era reported that a Bradford bowhunter
killed one pig in the Limestone Run area on Oct. 31. 

It is not definite whether the pigs killed were the same three
spotted in October, but Baginski said no feral pig sightings have
been reported since.

“We’re remaining optimistic that somehow three arrived and three
were removed,” Baginski said.

Michael Miecznikowski, Allegany State Park director, said no one
claimed killing the animals and no evidence suggested the pigs were
killed illegally. However, he said leaving animal remains is
illegal.

According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission Web site, licensed
hunters and trappers may take feral swine in all Pennsylvania
counties, except Bedford, but they must be taken “incidentally”
under normal hunting regulations and reported to the Game
Commission within 24 hours.

The Game Commission Web site read that feral pigs are a serious
concern across the nation and are considered a destructive invasive
species, posing threats to wildlife and humans.

“We don’t want them in New York and the Pennsylvania Game
Commission doesn’t want them either,” Baginski said.

On Oct. 22, cousins, Sandy Harmon of Bradford, and Debbie Feidt
Neubold of Williamsport, photographed the three pigs near the
Bradford entrance to the park.

It is up in the air how the pigs got there. Some reports
suggested they could have been pets abandoned in the park, others
suggested that they may have escaped from a hunting preserve, such
as one in nearby Tioga, which offers boar hunting.

In September, the Game Commission confirmed feral pigs in
Lycoming County, which borders Potter County on the east.

“To say that they’re gone is a good thing,” Miecznikowski
said.