Wildlife officials plan to kill feral pigs from helicopter

EPHRATA, Wash. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to remove feral pigs from a Grant County wildlife area by shooting them from a helicopter.

The state is closing public access to a portion of the Columbia Basin Wildlife Area for a month, beginning Friday, while federal agents attract the pigs with bait and slaughter them from the air.

The pigs are considered an invasive species that can severely damage fences, fields and wetlands.