INVASIVE SPECIES -- Washington state is keeping a close eye on the feral pig populations in Oregon, where the fish and wildlife department has ordered farmers to determine the size of the destructive pig populations on their land and get rid of them.

An Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife official says the feral pig populations are likely moving north from groups in California, where they are hunted as game.

The Capital Press reports a group of between 50 and 100 feral pigs in southwestern Idaho was culled to 20 through surveillance and tracking in the area, and Oregon hopes to duplicate that success.

States in the Midwest and Southeast suffer from massive feral pig populations that wreak havoc on valuable crop land.

Oregon officials hope to eradicate them before that happens.