MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- More than 500 Alabama hunters have bought licenses to hunt feral pigs and coyotes at night, authorities said.
It's a new approach to try to control the destructive animals in Alabama, Al.com reported.
State lawmakers passed a bill last year to allow the nighttime hunting. It's aimed at targeting the wild pigs, which cause more than a billion dollars in damage annually, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Experts say that nighttime hunting could help control the population, but that trapping and killing is the best way to do so.
Feral pigs -- also called feral hogs, swine, and wild boars -- roam Alabama and other southern states, rooting up crops and pastures and stomping through forests, fences and gardens.