Feral pigs, wild horses and wild buffalos are on the hit list for Parks Australia rangers, who killed more than 11,000 pigs during the first months of the year at Kakadu National Park. Officials planned to eradicate as many or more, along with buffalos and horses, that have devastated the flora and fauna within the park. Other invasive species include feral dogs, cats, ants and vegetation, all of which prey or impact native species.

Australian officials say the number of feral pigs in the park soared to more than 70,000 in the past four years. Wild buffalos increased by 50 percent to about 7,500, and feral horses in the park number more than 15,000. Aerial culling was used, with efficiency, until a helicopter crash in 2019 paused the use for studies on flight safety. Aerial culling was restarted in mid-2022, with about 500 buffalos and 11,000 pigs killed quickly.

Kakadu National Park is listed as a World Heritage Site through UNESCO, an arm of the United Nations. The park, which is in the country’s Northern Territory, was not under threat to lose its listing. A spokesman told ABC News AU the surge in the feral species was a “significant concern” but there “is management in place which makes efforts to address this threat.”