Missouri is adding a $3.6 million tool to help in the fight against feral hogs, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Missouri will be adding an Airbus H125 Helicopter to its arsenal which should be delivered no later than mid-June.
Once in use, the department is planning to use the chopper to monitor the state’s growing bear population and form wildlife population estimates.
The agency also plans to use the helicopter to hunt feral hogs.
More than 10,000 hogs were killed in 2019 government-sanctioned hunts.
The MDC banned hog hunting on state land in 2016, with an exemption for licensed deer and turkey hunters who can opportunistically kill hogs in season.