Australia plagued by feral pigs

Scientists in Australia have warned that rising numbers of disease-ravaged feral pigs pose a threat to farmers and the environment.

Experts in the northern state of Queensland say that the pig population is out of control.

The pigs are causing untold damage to crops as well as threatening native wildlife, they say.

It is estimated there are 23m wild pigs in Australia. That means there are now more pigs than people.

In Queensland's rain forests, professional hunters are trapping large numbers of these feral scavengers.

The pigs will be shot and buried. They are riddled with disease and cannot be eaten.

Paul Smith runs a hunting business called Boar Busters. He is a former soldier who served in Iraq, East Timor and Somalia.

"It is just like operating in a guerrilla warfare environment," he says.

"I need to utilise the information that I gain from the local population and then to be able to effectively react to that information to respond to the incursions from the feral pigs."