ABSTRACT
The initial presence of wild pigs in southeastern North America dates to the early European exploratory period of North America, and their existence in this region has continued through the present. By the late 1970s, all of the states in the Southeast region had established populations of wild pigs, with both the range and numbers only increasing minimally until 1990. Beginning in the last decade of the 20th century, all of the southern states experienced a significant increase in these animals. Morphology of wild pigs in the Southeast region exhibits the same overall variation seen elsewhere in North America. One unique regional exception is the insular dwarfing documented for the wild pigs on Ossabaw Island, Georgia, which exhibit some of the smallest adult total body mass reported for the continent at 40 kg. Wild pigs in the Southeast region are susceptible to the same suite of pathogens and parasites as other regions of North America.
