Maui hunters protest new contraceptive meant to control feral pig populations

KAHULUI (HawaiiNewsNow) - For the second time this week, Maui hunters are protesting a new product aimed at controlling feral pig populations.

The contraceptive HogStop is now being distributed on Oahu.

Pig hunters like Eddie Perrells don’t want it on Maui.

“There is no guarantee, like 100% that thing is not going to effect you,” Perrells said. “Native birds can eat them. It’s just a little grain. So of course, birds, they eat anything that is out there that’s on the ground.”

The company’s owner says the contraceptive is completely safe.

Ingredients in HogStop include molasses, corn, salt and cotton seed. It’s the cotton seed that keeps pigs from reproducing.

“I know there’s a big concern in Hawaii that this is going to taint the meat,” said Daniel Loper. “The meat will be perfectly safe to eat.”

Loper said as a pig hunter himself, he wouldn’t put out anything that would harm the animals and people consuming them.

Loper added the development of HogStop was due to the high reproductive rate of pigs. He said there are approximately 10 million feral hogs across the U.S and they can be a major nuisance to farmers and ranchers.

“There’s a huge cultural reverence for pigs in Hawaii and we’re trying to learn that were mainlanders,” Loper said. “We’ll never quite 100% grasp it. But we’re trying to understand it.”

Meanwhile, for Perrells and many other hunters around Hawaii, they feel the best solution is themselves.

For more information about HogStop Hawaii, click here.

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