Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, s-byrns@tamu.edu

Contact: Mark Tyson, 979-845-4698, mark.tyson@tamu.edu

COLLEGE STATION – The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is offering an online wild pig management course for landowners, land managers and others seeking information on feral swine.

Mark Tyson, AgriLife Extension wildlife associate at College Station, said the course is divided into five modules, which are split into three main areas of study— two providing continuing education units and one informational course designed for the general public. All are narrated by members of the Feral Hog Community of Practice, a group delivering information through a national effort called eXtension.

The three areas of study are:

– Wild Pig Management for Texas Pesticide Applicators,http://bit.ly/1nE9Esp. Cost is $45. This was developed for Texas Department of Agriculture private pesticide applicators and offers two continuing education units – one general and one integrated pest management.

– Understanding Wild Pig History and Biology Continuing Education for Professionals, http://bit.ly/1Nq6EVi. Cost is $70. This provides three category one contact hours for the Wildlife Society, 2.5 continuing education units for the Society for Range Management and 2.5 hours of category two Society for American Foresters continuing education credits.

– Understanding Wild Pig History and Biology, a course for the general public, http://bit.ly/20jygoc Cost is $20. This targets anyone seeking to increase their knowledge of wild pigs.

“I am excited about these distance education courses because they offer a new way of providing continuing education units to a diverse audience, around the clock whenever the user wants to participate,” Tyson said. “Topics cover history, biology, disease concerns, laws and regulations and the management of wild pigs which provide a greater understanding of their impacts on humans, livestock and the environment.”

For more information, contact Tyson at 979-845-4698,mark.tyson@tamu.edu.