A Texas woman was found dead outside the home of an elderly couple she cared for after being attacked by a group of feral hogs.
59-year-old Christine Rollins, arrived at work in rural town of Anahuac around 6 a.m. on Sunday 23 November under the cover of darkness. The 84-year-old homeowner found Rollins’ body lying in the front yard after becoming worried as to why she hadn’t shown up for work.
Authorities were called to the scene and initially considered the possibility that the victim had died of a medical condition before her body was discovered by the feral hogs.
However, an autopsy confirmed the cause of death as loss of blood “due to feral hog assault,” according to Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne.
“It looks like she got out of her car and locked it,
[She] was probably trying to make her way to the front door when, it appears, these animals must have come along.”
The medical examination found that she was attacked by “multiple hogs” based on the various size of the bites across her body.
“There is no question in the medical examiner’s mind that this was feral hogs that caused her death,
In my 35 years, I will tell you it’s one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.”
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Hawthorne added that feral hogs have taken over some pasture land near the home and that they are a problem throughout Chambers County. Attacks on humans, however, are extremely rare.
Feral hogs are one of the most destructive invasive species in the United States and have continued to be a problem for farmers in Texas.
The department of agriculture estimates that the hogs cause roughly $1.5 billion in damage each year, tearing up crops and property, eating endangered species, and spreading diseases to both livestock and humans.
The USDA estimates there are about 6 million hogs across the U.S. and around half of them live in Texas.
The problem is so great that in 2011 the state made it legal for helicopter companies to take anyone — even tourists — hunting for feral hogs.
SOURCE: VICE